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SectionI Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on
the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
People have speculated for centuries
about a future without work .Today is no
different, with academics, writers, and
activists once again1 that technology be replacing human workers. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by2 . A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in an impoverished wasteland.
A different and not mutually exclusive3
holds that the future will be a wasteland of a different sort, one 4 by purposelessness: Without jobs to give their lives 5 , people will simply become lazy and depressed. 6 , today’s
unemployed don’t seem to be havinga great time. One Gallup poll found that 20 percent of Americans who have been
unemployed for at least a year report having depression, double the rate for 7 Americans. Also, some
research suggests that the 8 for rising rates of mortality, mental-health
problems, and addicting 9 poorly-educated middle-aged people
is shortage of well-paid jobs. Perhaps this is why many 10 the agonizing dullness of a
jobless future.
But it doesn’t 11 follow from findings
like these that a world without work would be filled with unease. Such visions are based on the 12 of being unemployed in a
society built on the concept of employment. In the 13 of work, a society
designed with other ends in mind could14 strikingly different circumstanced for
the future of labor and leisure. Today, the 15 of work may be a bit overblown.“Many jobs are boring, degrading, unhealthy, and a waste of human potential,” says John Danaher, a lecturer
at the National University of Ireland in Galway.
These days, because leisure time is relatively 16 for most workers, people use their free time to counterbalance the intellectual
and emotional 17 of their jobs. “When I come
home from a hard day’s work, I often feel
18 ,” Danaher says, adding, “In a world
in which I don’t have to work, I might feel
rather different”—perhaps different enough to throw himself 19 a hobby or a
passion project with the intensity usually reserved for 20 matters.
1.[A] boasting [B] denying [C] warning [D] ensuring
2.[A] inequality [B] instability [C] unreliability [D] uncertainty
3.[A] policy [B]guideline [C] resolution [D] prediction
4.[A] characterized [B]divided [C] balanced [D]measured
5.[A] wisdom [B] meaning [C] glory [D] freedom
6.[A] Instead [B] Indeed [C] Thus [D] Nevertheless
7.[A] rich [B] urban [C]working [D] educated
8.[A] explanation [B] requirement [C] compensation [D] substitute
9.[A] under [B] beyond [C] alongside [D] among
10.[A] leave behind [B] make up [C] worry about [D] set aside
11.[A] statistically [B] occasionally [C] necessarily [D]
economically
12.[A] chances [B] downsides [C] benefits [D] principles
13.[A] absence [B] height [C] face [D] course
14.[A] disturb [B] restore [C] exclude [D] yield
15.[A] model [B] practice [C] virtue [D] hardship
16.[A] tricky [B] lengthy [C] mysterious [D] scarce
17.[A] demands [B] standards [C] qualities [D] threats
18.[A] ignored [B] tired [C] confused [D] starved
19.[A] off [B] against [C] behind [D] into
20.[A] technological [B] professional [C] educational [D]
interpersonal
SectionIIReading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 1
Every Saturday morning, at 9 am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has
inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. Events are free, staffed by
thousands of volunteers. Runners
range from four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley’s world record 13 minutes
48 seconds up to an hour.
Parkrun is succeeding where London’s
Olympic “legacy” is failing. Ten years
ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the
30th Olympiad would be in London. Planning
documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to level a nation
of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. It has not happened. The number
of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run—up to 2012—but the general
population was growing faster. Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two
hours of sport a week have nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children. Official retrospections continue as to why London 2012 failed
to “inspire a generation.” The success
of Parkrun offers answers.
Parkun is not a race but a time trial: Your only competitor is the clock. The ethos welcomes anybody. There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being
clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining.The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to
get more people doing sports and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on success over taking part was intimidating for
newcomers.
Indeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved
in the planning of such a fundamentally “grassroots”, concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government, it should really be getting involved in providing common
goods—making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave
tennis and netball courts, and
encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments have presided over selling green
spaces, squeezing money from local authorities
and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy
strategies, future governments need to do more to
provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse.
21. According to Paragraph1, Parkrun has.
[A] gained great popularity
[B] created many jobs
[C] strengthened community ties
[D] become an official festival
22. The author believes that London’s Olympic“legacy” has failed to.
[A] boost population growth
[B] promote sport participation
[C] improve the city’s image
[D] increase sport hours in schools
23. Parkrun is different from Olympic games in that it.
[A] aims at discovering talents
[B] focuses on mass competition
[C] does not emphasize elitism
[D] does not attract first-timers
24. With regard to mass sport, the author holds that governments should.
[A] organize “grassroots” sports events
[B] supervise local sports associations
[C] increase funds for sports clubs
[D] invest in public sports facilities
25. The author’s attitude to what UK governments have done for sports
is.
[A] tolerant
[B] critical
[C] uncertain
[D] sympathetic
Text 2
With so much focus on children’s use of
screens, it’s easy for parents to forget about
their own screen use. “Tech is
designed to really suck on you in,” says Jenny
Radesky in her study of digital play, “and digital products are there to promote maximal engagement. It makes it hard to disengage, and leads to a lot of bleed-over into the family routine. ”
Radesky has studied the use of mobile
phones and tablets at mealtimes by giving mother-child pairs a food-testing
exercise. She found that mothers who sued
devices during the exercise started 20 percent fewer verbal and 39 percent
fewer nonverbal interactions with their children. During a separate observation, she saw that phones became a source of tension in the family. Parents would be looking at their emails while the children
would be making excited bids for their attention.
Infants are wired to look at parents’
faces to try to understand their world, and if those faces are blank and unresponsive—as they often are
when absorbed in a device—it can be extremely disconcerting foe the children. Radesky cites the “still face experiment” devised by
developmental psychologist Ed Tronick in the 1970s. In it, a mother is
asked to interact with her child in a normal way before putting on a blank
expression and not giving them any visual social feedback; The child becomes increasingly distressed as she tries to
capture her mother’s attention. “Parents
don’t have to be exquisitely parents at all times, but there needs to be a balance and parents need to be responsive
and sensitive to a child’s verbal or nonverbal expressions of an emotional need,” says Radesky.
On the other hand, Tronick himself is concerned that the worries about kids’ use
of screens are born out of an “oppressive ideology that demands that parents
should always be interacting” with their children: “It’s based on a somewhat fantasized, very white, very upper-middle-class
ideology that says if you’re failing to expose your child to 30,000 words you are neglecting them.” Tronick believes that just because a child isn’t learning from
the screen doesn’t mean there’s no value to it—particularly if it gives parents
time to have a shower, do housework
or simply have a break from their child. Parents, he says, can get a lot out of using their devices to speak to a friend
or get some work out of the way. This can
make them feel happier, which lets
then be more available to their child the rest of the time.
26. According to Jenny Radesky, digital products are designed to ______.
[A] simplify routine matters
[B] absorb user attention
[C] better interpersonal relations
[D] increase work efficiency
27. Radesky’s food-testing
exercise shows that mothers’ use of devices ______.
[A] takes away babies’ appetite
[B] distracts children’s attention
[C] slows down babies’ verbal
development
[D] reduces mother-child communication
28. Radesky’s cites the “still face experiment” to show that _______.
[A] it is easy for children to get used
to blank expressions
[B] verbal expressions are unnecessary
for emotional exchange
[C] children are insensitive to changes
in their parents’ mood
[D] parents need to respond to
children’s emotional needs
29. The oppressive ideology mentioned by Tronick requires parents
to_______.
[A] protect kids from exposure to wild
fantasies
[B] teach their kids at least 30,000 words a year
[C] ensure constant interaction with
their children
[D] remain concerned about kid’s use of
screens
30. According to Tronick, kid’s use of screens may_______.
[A] give their parents some free time
[B] make their parents more creative
[C] help them with their homework
[D] help them become more attentive
Text 3
Today, widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in
conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the
possibility of taking a gap year. After all, if everyone you know is going to college in the fall, it seems silly to stay back a year, doesn’t it? And after going to school for 12 years, it doesn’t feel natural to spend a year doing something that
isn’t academic.
But while this may be true, it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years. There’s always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else
on the socially perpetuated “race to the finish line,” whether that be toward graduate school, medical school or lucrative career. But despite common misconceptions, a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits—in
fact, it probably enhances it.
Studies from the United States and
Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared
for and perform better in college than those who do not. Rather than pulling students back, a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for
independence, new responsibilities and environmental
changes—all things that first-year students
often struggle with the most. Gap year
experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being
thrown into a brand new environment, making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than
acclimationblunders.
If you’re not convinced of the inherent
value in taking a year off to explore interests, then consider its financial impact on future academic choices. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their
majors at least once. This isn’t
surprising, considering the basic mandatory high
school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves
listing one major on their college applications, but switching to another after taking college classes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the school, it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in
the game. At Boston College, for example, you would
have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from
another department. Taking a gap
year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money
later on.
31. One of the reasons for high-school graduates not taking a gap year is that .
[A] they think it academically
misleading
[B] they have a lot of fun to expect in
college
[C] it feels strange to do differently
from others
[D] it seems worthless to take off-campus courses
32. Studies from the US and Australia imply that taking a gap year
helps .
[A] keep students from being
unrealistic
[B] lower risks in choosing careers
[C] ease freshmen’s financial burdens
[D] relieve freshmen of pressures
33. The word “acclimation” (Line 8, Para. 3) is closest
in meaning to .
[A] adaptation
[B] application
[C] motivation
[D] competition
34. A gap year may save money for students by helping them .
[A] avoid academic failures
[B] establish long-term goals
[C] switch to another college
[D] decide on the right major
35. The most suitable title for this text would be .
[A] In Favor of the Gap Year
[B] The ABCs of the Gap Year
[C] The Gap Year Comes Back
[D] The Gap Year: A Dilemma
Text 4
Though often viewed as a problem for
western states, the growing frequency of wildfires is
a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars, says Professor Max Moritz, a specialist in fire ecology and management.
In 2015, the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of
its $5.5 billion annual budget fighting fires—nearly
double the percentage it spent on such efforts 20 years ago. In effect, fewer
federal funds today are going towards the agency’s other work—such as forest
conservation, watershed and cultural resources
management, and infrastructure upkeep—that affect
the lives of all Americans.
Another nationwide concern is whether
public funds from other agencies are going into construction in fire-prone districts. As Moritz
puts it, how often are federal dollars building
homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire?
“It’s already a huge problem from a
public expenditure perspective for the whole country,” he says.” We need to
take a magnifying glass to that. Like, “Wait a minute, is this OK?”
“Do we want instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts of the landscape?”
Such a view would require a
corresponding shift in the way US society today views fire, researchers say.
For one thing, conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive. Over the past decade, the focus has been on climate change—how the warming of the Earth
from greenhouse gases is leading to conditions that worsen fires.
While climate is a key element, Moritz says, it shouldn’t
come at the expense of the rest of the equation.
“The human systems and the landscapes
we live on are linked, and the
interactions go both ways,” he says. Failing to recognize that, he notes, leads to “an
overly simplified view of what the solutions might be. Our perception of the problem and of what the solution is
becomes very limited.”
At the same time, people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be
wholly controlled and unleashed only out of necessity, says Professor Balch at the University of Colorado. But acknowledging fire’s inevitable presence in human life is
an attitude crucial to developing the laws, policies, and
practices that make it as safe as possible, she says.
“We’ve disconnected ourselves from
living with fire,” Balch says. “It is really important to understand and try and tease out
what is the human connection with fire today.”
36. More frequent wildfires have become a national concern because in
2015 they.
[A] exhausted unprecedented management
efforts
[B] consumed a record-high percentage of budget
[C] severely damaged the ecology of
western states
[D] caused a huge rise of
infrastructure expenditure
37. Moritz calls for the use of “a magnifying glass” to.
[A] raise more funds for fire-prone areas
[B] avoid the redirection of federal
money
[C] find wildfire-free parts of the landscape
[D] guarantee safer spending of public
funds
38. While admitting that climate is a key element, Moritz notes that.
[A] public debates have not settled yet
[B] fire-fighting conditions are improving
[C] other factors should not be
overlooked
[D] a shift in the view of fire has
taken place
39. The overly simplified view Moritz mentions is a result of failing
to.
[A] discover the fundamental makeup of
nature
[B] explore the mechanism of the human
systems
[C] maximize the role of landscape in
human life
[D] understand the interrelations of
man and nature
40. Professor Balch points out that fire is something man should.
[A] do away with
[B] come to terms with
[C] pay a price for
[D] keep away from
Part B
Directions:
Read the following text and match each
of the numbered items in the left column to its corresponding information in
the right column. There are two extra choices in the
right column. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
The decline in American manufacturing
is a common refrain, particularly
from Donald Trump. “We don’t make anything anymore,” he told Fox News, while defending his own made-in-Mexico clothing line.
Without question, manufacturing has taken a significant hit during recent
decades, and further trade deals raise
questions about whether new shocks could hit manufacturing.
But there is also a different way to
look at the data.
Across the country, factory owners are now grappling with a new challenge: instead of having too many workers, they may end up with too few. Despite trade competition and outsourcing, American manufacturing still needs to replace tens of
thousands of retiring boomers every years. Millennials may not be that interested in taking their place, other industries are recruiting them with similar or better
pay.
For factory owners, it all adds up to stiff competition for workers—and upward
pressure on wages. “They’re harder to find and they have
job offers,” says Jay Dunwell, president of Wolverine Coil Spring, a family-owned firm, “They may be coming [into the workforce], but they’ve been plucked by other industries that are also
doing an well as manufacturing,” Mr. Dunwell has begun bringing high school juniors to the factory
so they can get exposed to its culture.
At RoMan Manufacturing, a maker of electrical transformers and welding equipment that
his father cofounded in 1980, Robert Roth
keep a close eye on the age of his nearly 200 workers, five are retiring this year. Mr. Roth has three community-college students enrolled in a work-placement program, with a
starting wage of $13 an hour that rises to $17 after two years.
At a worktable inside the transformer
plant, young Jason Stenquist looks flustered
by the copper coils he’s trying to assemble and the arrival of two visitors. It’s his first week on the job. Asked about his choice of career, he says at high school he considered medical school before
switching to electrical engineering. “I love working with tools. I love creating.” he says.
But to win over these young workers, manufacturers have to clear another major hurdle: parents, who lived
through the worst US economic downturn since the Great Depression, telling them to avoid the factory. Millennials “remember their father and mother both were laid
off. They blame it on the manufacturing
recession,” says Birgit Klohs, chief executive of The Right Place, a business development agency for western Michigan.
These concerns aren’t misplaced: Employment in manufacturing has fallen from 17 million in 1970
to 12 million in 2013. When the
recovery began, worker shortages first appeared in the
high-skilled trades. Now shortages are appearing at the mid-skill levels.
“The gap is between the jobs that take
to skills and those that require a lot of skill,” says Rob Spohr, a business
professor at Montcalm Community College. “There’re enough people to fill the jobs at McDonalds and other
places where you don’t need to have much skill. It’s that gap in between, and that’s where the problem is. ”
Julie Parks of Grand Rapids Community
points to another key to luring Millennials into manufacturing: a work/life balance. While their parents were content to work long hours, young people value flexibility. “Overtime is not attractive to this generation. They really want to live their lives,” she says.
Section IIITranslation
46.Directions:
Translate the following text into
Chinese. Write your translation neatly on the
ANSWER SHEET.(15 points)
My dream has always been to work
somewhere in an area between fashion and publishing. Two years before graduating from secondary school, I took a sewing and design course thinking that I would move
on to a fashion design course. However, during that course I realized I was not good enough in this
area to compete with other creative personalities in the future, so I decided that it was not the right path for me. Before applying for university I told everyone that I would
study journalism, because writing was, and still is, one of my
favourite activities. But, to be honest, I said it , because I thought that fashion and me together was just a
dream—I knew that no one could imagine me in the fashion industry at all! So I decided to look for some fashion-related courses that included writing. This is when I noticed the course “Fashion Media &
Promotion.”
Part A
47. Directions:
Suppose you are invited by Professor
Williams to give a presentation about Chinese culture to a group of
international students. Write a
reply to
1) accept the invitation, and
2) introduce the key points of your presentation
You should write about 100 words on the
ANSWER SHEET.
Don’t use your own name, use “LiMing” instead.
Don’t write your address. (10 points)
Part B
48. Directions:
You should write about 150 words neatly
on the ANSWER SHEET. (15 points)