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问答题Americans are much more likely than citizens of other nations to believe that they live in a meritocracy. But this self-image is a fantasy: as a report in The Times last week pointed out, America actually stands out as the advanced country in which it matters most who your parents were, the country in which those born on one of society"s lower rungs have the least chance of climbing to the top or even to the middle.
And if you ask why America is more class-bound in practice than the rest of the western world, a large part of the reason is that our government falls down on the job of creating equal opportunity.
The failure starts early: in America, the holes in the social safety net mean that both low-income mothers and their children are all too likely to suffer from poor nutrition and receive inadequate health care. It continues once children reach school age, where they encounter a system in which the affluent send their kids to good, well-financed public schools or, if they choose, to private schools, while less-advantaged children get a far worse education.
Once they reach college age, those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to go to college—and vastly less likely to go to a top-tier school—than those luckier in their parentage. At the most selective, "tier 1" schools. 74 percent of the entering class comes from the quarter of households that have the highest "socioeconomic status"; only 3 percent comes from the bottom quarter.
And if children from our society"s lower rungs do manage to make it into a good college, the lack of financial support makes them far more likely to drop out than the children of the affluent, even if they have as much or more native ability. One long-term study by the department of education found that students with high test scores but low-income parents were less likely to complete college than students with low scores but affluent parents—loosely speaking, that smart poor kids are less likely than dumb rich kids to get a degree.
It"s no wonder, then, that Horatio Alger stories, tales of poor kids who make good, are much less common in reality than they are in legend—and much less common in America than they are in Canada or Europe. Which brings me back to those who claim to believe in equality of opportunity. Where is the evidence for that claim?
Think about it: someone who really wanted equal opportunity would be very concerned about the inequality of our current system. He would support more nutritional aid for low-income mothers-to-be and young children. He would try to improve the quality of public schools. He would support aid to low-income college students. And he would support what every other advanced country has, a universal health care system, so that nobody need worry about untreated illness or crushing medical bills.
问答题Topic: Will petty criminals get light punishment? Questions for Reference： 1. A new prosecution guideline was recently released: people convicted of petty crimes may get light punishment if they are minors, the elderly people, and people who have slightly breached the law because of poverty. What do you think of this new law? 2. This new law is said to be a humane practice and it will help them put their lives back in order and better serve their families. Do you think it can achieve its end? 3. Some people think that if petty crimes are not punished in a timely way, more serious consequences will follow. What do you think of this argument?
问答题Help! I Can"t Cope
A friend who had lived in New York during the 1970s was recently here for a brief visit. I asked him what, in this ever- changing city. he found to be most startlingly changed. He thought for a moment before answering. "Probably the visible increase in prostitution," he replied.
My astonishment at this comment was so palpable that he felt obliged to explain. "Haven"t you noticed," he asked with surprise, "all these young women standing furtively in doorways? You never used to see that when I was here."
I couldn"t resist my laughter. "They"re not prostitutes," I clarified. "They"re smokers."
For indeed they are. Most American office buildings no longer allow smoking on the premises, driving those who can"t resist the urge onto the streets. The sight of them, lounging on "coffee breaks" near the entrances to their workplace, puffing away, has become ubiquitous. Since most new smokers apparently are women, my friend"s confusion was understandable. And there are more than ever since September 11.
Stress is probably better measured anecdotally than statistically. I"m not aware of surveys on this matter, but anyone living in New York these days has stories of friends who, amid the scares of 9-11 and its aftermath, have sought solace in cigarettes. I used to go to a gym in the Metlife Building over Grand Central Terminal. Some days so many people stood outside, tensely smoking, that I assumed an evacuation had just been ordered. At least three friends who"d given up tobacco have lapsed back into the habit, claiming they couldn"t calm their nerves any other way. Others have increased their previously reduced intakes. Some, in their quest for a crutch, have begun smoking for the first time. In modern Manhattan the frantic puff has become the preferred alternative to the silent scream.
New Yorkers, of course, are coping in more imaginative ways, as well. A friend swears he knows someone who has stashed a canoe in his closet in case he needs to escape Manhattan by river. Another says he has moved a heavy objet d"art into his office so that he can smash the window if a firebomb makes the elevator or the staircase impassable. A women working on one of the lowers of her office building has acquired a rope long enough to lower herself to the ground; one who works at the top of a skyscraper tells me she"s looking into the purchase of a parachute. Still others have stocked up on such items of antiterrorist chic as flame-retardant ponchos, anthrax-antidote antibiotics and heavy-duty gas masks.
Recent polls indicate that American women are more stressed than men. Over 50 percent in one national survey of 1,000 adults admitted to being "very" or "somewhat" worried in the wake of the terrorist assaults. The anthrax scare may have receded. But recent incidents, from the airplane crash in New York Borough of Queens to the arrest of the London "shoe-bomber" to rumors of suitcase nukes, seem to have had permanently unsettling effects. Take food. A surprising number of people are apparently unable to touch their plates. Others are eating too much, seeking reassurance in "comfort food." Given the alternatives, smoking seems a reasonable refuge; after all, the long-term threat of cancer seems far more remote these days than the prospect of explosive incineration.
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问答题The task of writing a history of our nation from Rome"s earliest days fills me, I confess, with some misgivings and even were I confident in the value of my work, I should hesitate to say so. I am aware that for historians to make extravagant claims is, and always has been, all too common: Every writer on history tends to look down his nose at his less cultivated predecessors, happily persuaded that he will better them in point of style, or bring new facts to light. Countless others have written on this theme and it may be that I shall pass unnoticed amongst them; if so, I must comfort myself with the greatness and splendor of my rivals, whose work will rob my own of recognition.
My task, moreover, is an immensely laborious one. I shall have to go back more than 700 years, and trace my story from its small beginnings up to these recent times when its ramifications are so vast that any adequate treatment is hardly possible. I shall find antiquity a rewarding study. If only, because while I am absorbed in it, I shall be able to turn my eyes from the troubles, which for so long have tormented the modern world, and to write without any of that over anxious consideration, which may well plague a writer in contemporary life, even if it does not lead him to conceal the truth.
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问答题There is an old saying, "Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks". In four historic years, America has been given great tasks and faced them with strength and courage. Our people have restored the vigor of this economy and shown resolve and patience in a new kind of war. Our military has brought justice to the enemy and honor to America. Our nation has defended itself and served the freedom of all mankind. I'm proud to lead such an amazing country, and I'm proud to lead it forward. Because we have done the hard work, we are entering a season of hope. We will continue our economic progress. We'll reform our outdated tax code. We'll strengthen the Social Security for the next generation. We'll make public schools ail they can be. And we will uphold our deepest values of family and faith.
问答题新中国正在成长，建设新中国需要中国人悠久传统的智慧。我们的国家和许多其他成功的国家都面临物质的诱惑，重视个人和家庭责任的古老道德传统将使中国受益匪浅。在中国如今经济成功的背后，有着朝气蓬勃的人才。在不久的将来，这些人将在这个政府中发挥积极和全面的作用。这所大学不仅在培养专家，同时也在培育公民。这些公民不是国家事务的旁观者，而是未来建设的参与者。
问答题{{B}}Sectence Translation{{/B}} Directions:
In this part of the test, you will hear 5 sentences in English. You will
hear the sentences ONLY ONCE. After you have heard each
sentence, translate it into Chinese and write your version in the corresponding
space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.
问答题第五题问最后一段的段意。
问答题August was once a time for dreaming, wandering the empty streets of this city, reading silly-season newspaper stories after a leisurely lunch, gazing at squares where fountains plashed and the pregnant or the old chatted on benches at dusk. Then something happened. The world speeded up. Stress levels soared. Idle moments evaporated. Egos expanded. Money outpaced politics. Rage surged. August aborted this year. It morphed into the serious season. The beach lost out to the barricades. A time of outrage is upon us. Now a feeling has grown in Western societies that uncontrollable forces are at work shrinking possibility. History has never seen a global power shift as radical as the current one that managed to be peaceful.
Growth, jobs, expansion, excitement—and, yes, possibility—lie in the great non-Western arc from China through India to South Africa and Brazil. The world has been turned upside-down. What we are witnessing is how shaken Western societies are by such inversion. As new powers emerge, globalization has altered the relationship between capital and labor in the former"s favor. Returns on capital have proved higher relative to wages. The gap between rich and poor has become a gulf. The only people who walked away unscathed from the great financial binge were its main architects and greatest beneficiaries: such as bankers and financiers. This, too, is fueling a time of outrage that has left Western politicians chasing shadows.
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问答题Questions 7～10 When the automated player-piano was invented in the mid-19th century, companies that sold sheet music groused. When commercial radio took off, musicians bellyached that it would destroy them. So too, with the introduction of gramophones and tape recorders, did established businesses of the day try to block the inventions to protect their commercial interests. In each case, public interest defeated the private, and the technologies flourished (often, ironically, to the benefit of the party that originally objected). For instance, movie studios tried to outlaw Sony's Betamax because it could be used to infringe film copyright. In 1984, America's Supreme Court ruled the devices legal because they were "capable of substantial non-infringing uses." Today, the home-video market is almost three times larger than Hollywood box-office receipts. On March 29th, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software. This lets internet users obtain files of, say, music or video quickly and inexpensively by cleverly sharing the content among many users. In over 90% of the cases, the files downloaded infringe copyrights. Some 28 entertainment companies have joined together against two P2P software makers, StreamCast Networks and Grokster, claiming that they are accountable for "secondary liability" of copyright infringement because they knowingly turn a blind eye to the illegal activities of users. The entertainment industry is arguing that business models predicated on the theft of intellectual property should be declared illegal. Technology firms counter that to restrict companies according to how their technology is used by customers would hand media firms a veto power over technical innovation any time it seems to threaten their interests. The Supreme Court will have to reexamine its 1984 Betamax decision in light of the internet and digital devices from the PC to the iPod and digital video recorders. One lower court has found that P2P software makers are not liable, because the product is capable of legal uses. But another court interpreted the 1984 ruling differently, finding against P2P by highlighting the ruling's indication that there should be "commercially significant" non-infringing uses for "legitimate" purposes. Recording companies complain that the decline in music sales in the past few years (save for a small uptick in 2004) is due largely to illegal file-sharing. Millions of people use P2P systems, downloading 2.6 billion songs a month and 400,000 films a day, accounting for over half of all internet traffic by some measures. Faced with the inability to get courts to shut down P2P networks, the industry has sued thousands of alleged pirates worldwide, and backed legislation that would ban technologies that "induce" infringement. A ruling against the P2P systems would slow, but would probably be too narrowly specific to end, the growth of firms exploiting the technology. A win for the media firms would help them negotiate agreements with the cottage industry of firms aiming to get into online music distribution. The entertainment industry would probably refocus its legal battles on targeting internet service providers. But the cost of this could be huge. It could dramatically set back the adoption of the many beneficial uses of P2P, from legitimate content distribution—such as individuals sharing their family photos or their home-recorded music online—to grid-computing. Theft of intellectual property is wrong, of course. But technologies exist that can prevent it—and even let media firms harness the internet to make money, as in the previous battles between content owners and new technologies. The Supreme Court should retain the Betamax principle. It is not the role of law to block innovation.1.What does the author mean by saying "public interest defeated the private, and the technology flourished" (para.2)?
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问答题据说，上海男人是最好的丈夫。他们总是知道该如何讨妻子的欢心，从而避免了矛盾，一家人其乐融融。所以从某种程度上讲，上海男人是社会安定和谐的象征。当妻子快乐时，他也快乐，因而整个城市也充满了快乐气氛。
虽然上海男人被戏谑为“妻管严”，但他并不屈从于妻子。在与妻子有争议时，他要么保持沉默，要么一笑置之。有时候他会发火，但事后不久，他也会毫不迟疑地道歉。最终他妻子发现，她还是按照他的想法行事。
上海男人聪明、务实，有时也相当圆滑。最令人印象深刻的是，上海男人在事业上有进取心，对家庭有很强的责任感，而且尊重女性。
问答题To read trash, to flaunt trash, to prefer trash to "better" literature was a not-so-subtle way of asserting one's independence against one's social superiors. It was a way of saying that we are masters of our own culture. It was a way of saying that we are Americans.
It still is. From crime pamphlets to dime novels to the "yellow press" to the movies to the tabloids to the trash of today, one theme keeps emerging. In a world culturally divided between the genteel and everything else, Americans opt for trash over alt that is supposed to be good for them as much because they resent being told what they should like as because they like trash. Seen this way, trash is not an escape from life, as some would have it; it is an escape from seriousness, which is no doubt why trash in the form of our movies, TV shows, music and popular literature has become one of our chief exports. You don't have to be American to want to play hooky from high culture, though Americans may be prouder of it than anyone else.
问答题Some people would say that the Englishman's home is no longer his castle; that it has become his workshop. This is partly because the average English is keen on working with his own hands and partly because he feels, for one reason or another, that he must do for himself many household jobs for which, some years ago, he would have hired professional help. The main reason for this is a financial one: the high cost of labour has meant that the builders' and decorators' costs have reached a level which makes them prohibitive for house. proud English people of modest means. So, if they wish to keep their houses looking bright and smart, they have to tackle some of the repairs and decorating themselves. As a result, there has grown up in the post-war years what is sometimes referred to as the "Do-it-yourself Movement".
The "Do-it-yourself Movement" began with home decorating but has since spread into a much wider field. Nowadays there seem to be very few things that cannot be made by the "do-it-yourself" method. A number of magazines and handbooks exist to show hopeful handymen of all ages just how easy it is to build anything from a coffee table to a fifteen-foot(4.5 meters) sailing dinghy. All you need, it seems, is a hammer and a few nails. You follow the simple instructions step by step and, before you know where you are, the finished article stands before you, complete in every detail.
Unfortunately, alas, it is not always quite as simple as it sounds! Many a budding "do-it-yourself" has found to his cost that one cannot learn a skilled craftsman's job overnight. How quickly one realizes, when doing it oneself, that a job which takes the skilled man an hour or so to complete takes the amateur handyman five to six at least. And then there is the question of tools. The first thing the amateur learns is that he must have the right tools for the job. But tools cost money. There is also the wear and tear on the nerves. It is not surprising then that many people have come to the conclusion that the expense of paying professionals to do the work is, in the long run, more economical than "do-it-yourself".
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