单选题Questions 15-18

单选题Driving cars, trucks and motorcycles is an important part of our lives. We do it every day to get to work, to school or to friends' houses. Driving can be very convenient, but can also cause many problems. Waiting in line at a red light, a driver may get impatient and decide just to drive right through it. If another car is coming from the other direction, there might be a terrible accident. Cutting another car off can make its driver angry, so that driver cuts off someone else. Pretty soon everybody is angry, and impatient. Traffic accidents declare millions of lives every year worldwide. In America alone, over seven people are killed in accidents every day. The annual death rate (年死亡率) from traffic accidents in America is twice that of Japan. To allow traffic to move smoothly and safely, everybody must follow the rules. Before you drive, learn all the traffic laws. That way of driving is safe, convenient and even fun!

单选题 The ability to negotiate successfully, to reach agreements with other people or parties, is a key skill in any business. This negotiation could be with a buyer or seller and it almost always involves an element of compromise. But, when entering negotiations, you should always keep in mind that it is almost impossible to negotiate and make agreements successfully if you think you can't afford to "lose" or walk away from what is on offer. This will result in your avoiding asking for anything more than what you think the other side will give without a dispute. You become a passive observer, with the other side dictating the terms. In most negotiations one side has more to offer than the other and proper planning can help minimize the effects of this imbalance. Decide on set limits for what you can offer before negotiations begin. There are always advantages you can offer the other side, and you clearly have benefits they want or need or they would not be negotiating with you. In fact, the buyer or seller often wants you more than you think, so it is to your advantage to try and see things from their point of view. The better you know their real needs or wants—not just the ones they have told you—the more successful you will be, and the less likely you are to fall into the trap of giving them more than you really need to. But it is also true that a concession they really need or will value from you won't cost you as much as it benefits them, and yet may still leave you with everything you want. If you know the other side must reach agreement on a deal by a certain date for financial reasons, your willingness to comply with that date could be worth a great deal of money to them, without costing you much, if anything at all. It is up to you to find out what the other side really needs. Untrained negotiators often allow their feelings to become too involved and they may take each rejection of a proposal as personal rejection. So they become angry with the other person, or blame them for failing to reach an agreement. While it is important to be yourself and, on occasion, not be afraid to express how you honestly feel, it is important to judge carefully when to do this. It is particularly important to maintain a polite and friendly personal relationship when you are facing a difficult negotiation, but keeping negative personal feelings out of negotiation doesn't mean hiding your personality. Think carefully about your negotiation schedule. Take breaks, particularly during times when you cannot agree over a particular point. But if you have to continue the negotiation on another day, make it soon, and keep the momentum of the negotiations. As long as you are still talking and meeting, you build rapport with the other party; learn more about what they need and ensure that your company is the one most likely to make the deal. This may require both patience and perseverance—but patience pays! To "win" a negotiation then, means that neither side should feel that they have "lost". You should know what you can offer the other side and know exactly what they want. If you have done everything you can and the deal remains outside the limits you have defined for yourself beforehand, then walk away from it. Either way, you're a winner!

单选题Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear several short statements. These statements will be spoken ONLY ONCE, and you will not find them written on the paper; so you must listen carefully. When you hear a statement, read the answer choices and decide which one is closest in meaning to the statement you have heard. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

单选题 Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.

单选题Article "Life Without Fuel" is ______.

单选题 {{B}}Questions 11-14{{/B}}

单选题Questions 5 to 8 are based on the following talk.

单选题 In the information technology industry, it is widely acknowledged that how well IT departments of the future can fulfill their business goals will depend not on the regular updating of technology, which is essential for them to do, but on how well they can hold on to the people skilled at manipulating the newest technology. This is becoming more difficult. Best estimates of the current shortfall in IT staff in the UK are between 30,000 and 50,000, and growing. And there is no end to the problem in sight. A severe industry-wide lack of investment in training means the long-term skills base is both ageing and shrinking. Employers are chasing experienced staff in ever-decreasing circles, and, according to a recent government report, 250,000 new IT jobs will be created over the next decade. Most employers are confining themselves to dealing with the immediate problems. There is little evidence, for example, that they are stepping up their intake of raw recruits for in-house training, or retraining existing staff from other functions. This is the course of action recommended by the Computer Software Services Association, but research shows its members are adopting the short-term measure of bringing in more and more consultants on a contract basis. With IT professionals increasingly attracted to the financial rewards and flexibility of consultancy work, average staff turnover rates are estimated to be around 15%. While many companies in the financial services sector are managing to contain their losses by offering skilled IT staff "golden handcuffs" — deferred loyalty bonuses that tie them in until a certain date — other organizations, like local governments, are unable to match the competitive salaries and perks on offer in the private sector and contractor market, and are suffering turnover rates of up to 60% a year. But while loyalty bonuses have grabbed the headlines, there are other means of holding on to staff. Some companies are doing additional IT pay reviews in the year and paying market premiums. But such measures can create serious employee relations problems among those excluded, both within and outside IT departments. Many industry experts advise employers to link bonuses to performance wherever possible. However, employers are realising that bonuses will only succeed if they are accompanied by other incentives such as attractive career prospects, training, and challenging work that meets the individual's long-term ambitions.

单选题 Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.

单选题 {{B}}Questions 19-22{{/B}}

单选题 {{B}}Questions 23-26{{/B}}

单选题Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following conversation.

单选题 {{B}}Questions 6～10 {{/B}} There has been much hullabaloo about corporate accounting scams in America, yet perhaps the biggest accounting oversight of all time remains hidden in governments' own national figures. GDP per head is the most commonly used measure of a country's success, yet it is badly flawed as a guide to a nation's economic well-being. A new study in the OECD's 2006 "Going for Growth" report considers some alternatives. Economists spend much time discussing how to boost GDP growth. The OECD itself drew attention this week to the widening gap between American' s and Europe's GDP per head. Yet a nation's well-being depends on many factors ignored by GDP, such as leisure time, income inequality and the quality of the environment. GDP was developed primarily as a planning tool to guide the huge production effort of the Second World War. It was never intended to be the definite yardstick of economic welfare. Would another indicator change the ranking of countries or their relative performance over time? GDP is not even the best gauge of the monetary aspects of living standards. It measures the value of goods and services produced by the residents of a country. But some of the income of earned in Britain, say, is paid to non-residents, while residents receive income from abroad. Adding net income from abroad to GDP gives us gross national income (GNI, also known as gross national product), which is more relevant for the prosperity of a nation. Most countries' rank by GNI pre head is similar to that by GDP. One exception is Ireland: its GDP per head is one of the highest in the OECD, but because of large net outflows of investment income, its GNI per head is merely around the OECD average. Its average GNI growth rate over the past decade has also been about one percentage point less than on a GDP basis. Another flaw is that GDP makes no allowance for the depreciation of the capital stock. Subtracting this from GNI leaves net national income (NNI), which is probably the best national account measure of welfare. Awkwardly, the numbers are harder to come by, making it difficult to compare across countries and over time. But even NNI is an imperfect measure of people's welfare: it excludes the value of such important things as leisure, inequality and the environment. GDP should ideally be reduced to take account of pollution and the using-up of non-renewable resources, but no standard accounts that can do this are yet available. On the other hand, the OECD has made a brave attempt to adjust GDP for the distribution of income. To most observers, a country where a few families enjoy huge wealth but most live in abject poverty would have a lower level of well-being than one with the same GDP but less poverty. A dollar of income is, in effect, worth more in the hands of the poor, though just how much more depends on attitudes towards inequality, the gap between American and most other rich countries, which have a more equal distribution of income, should be greatly reduced. By this measure, adjusted income per head is higher in France than in America. Inequality has also risen in recent years in most countries. Assuming again a strong aversion to equality, average adjusted income per head grew by only 0.6% a year in OECD countries between 1985 and 2002, against 1.4% for GDP per head. But such estimates are sensitive to big value judgments. If, instead, people care little about inequality, then the adjustment will be much smaller. Longer holidays and shorter working hours increasing an individual's well-being, yet conventional national accounts completely overlook such benefits. America is one of the world's richest countries, yet its workers toil longer hours than those elsewhere. As a result, adjusting GDP for leisure also narrows the gap between America and Europe. So far, neither the adjustment for inequality nor that for leisure alone overturns America's economic superiority. However, if both adjustments were made, then on certain assumptions, the gap between United States and several European countries could vanish. This does not mean that Europe can afford to abandon economic reforms. Leisure time is valuable, but it will not pay for future pensions. Nevertheless, the OECD is to be congratulated for being the first mainstream organization to challenge the conventional GDP numbers. Its task now is to encourage governments to start producing more relevant statistics.

单选题

单选题Questions 21～25 Like many people, I've always seen the Olympics as the "main" sporting event held every four years—the headline act—and the Paralyrnpics as something of an "add-on"—the supporting act. It you are not disabled yourself it is hard to understand some of the games and the athletes mobility problems. But being in the host city for these Paralympics changed my perspective. I came to realize these athletes were nothing short of superheroes. Deprived of physical abilities that able-bodied people take for granted, they made up for them and then some. They tested their senses and the boundaries of physical ability to extremes that the Bolts and Phelpses of this world would never have to. If some Olympic runners had to undergo a double-amputation, I wonder if they would strap two carbon fiber blades to their knees like Oscar Pistorius, also known as Blade Runner, of South Africa, and relearn everything that once came naturally. If some Olympic swimming heroes suddenly went blind, would they have the courage to still surge through the water like Donovan Tildesley, not knowing when they would reach the end of the pool? Would any of us have the guts to turn around a life-changing experience like a car crash or bad rugby scrum. And not only get our lives back on track but then strive to be the best at a sport? "What Paralympic sport would you do if you were disabled?" was a water-cooler question I posed today. It's not something you would normally think about. You don't watch TV as a kid aspiring to be a Paralympian. But it takes more than early mornings, training programs and special diets to get to the Paralympics. It takes a tragedy or loss that will have been grieved over, worked through and overcome. Skiing is terrifying enough if you have all your faculties. Standing at the top of a ski slope, it's a battle of wills for most people to launch themselves, but Canada's Donovan Tildesley, who has been blind from birth, revealed to a China Daily reporter that not only did he already ski, but he also wanted to take it up competitively. Superheroes indeed, each and every one. The Paralympics should be renamed the "Superlympics". It's nothing to do with the equality denoted by the Greek "para", it's about "super" ability, courage and strength that most of us, the top able-bodied athletes of the world included, will never have to muster. It's worth remembering that many Paralympians suffered horrific injuries while living life to the full. You don't get paralyzed sitting at home playing video games. And having lived life to the full they are not prepared to stop. That's the lesser talked about "Paralympic spirit". I only hope that if life dealt me or my loved ones similar blows we would tackle them in the same way as these outstanding men and women.

单选题Many people are worried about what television has done to the generation of American children who have grown up watching it. For one thing, recent studies show that TV weakens the ability to imagine. Some teachers feel that television has taken away the child's ability to form mental pictures in his own mind, resulting in children who cannot understand a simple story without pictures. Secondly, too much TV too early usually causes children to be removed from real-life experiences. Thus, they grow up to be passive watchers who can only respond to action, but not start doing something actively. The third area for such a worrying situation is the serious dissatisfaction frequently expressed by school teachers that children show a low patience for the pains in learning. Because they have been used to seeing results of all problems in 30 or 60 minutes on TV, they are quickly discouraged by any activity that promises less than immediate satisfaction. But perhaps the most serious result is the TV effect of bloody fights and death on children, who have come to believe that it is an everyday thing. Not only does this increase their admission of terrible acts on others, but some children will follow anti-social acts that they see on television.

单选题 Questions 6-10 In the 1950s, the pioneers of artificial intelligence (AI) predicted that, by the end of this century, computers would be conversing with us at work and robots would be performing our housework. But as useful as computers are, they're nowhere close to achieving anything remotely resembling these early aspirations for humanlike behavior. Never mind something as complex as conversation: the most powerful computers struggle to reliably recognize the shape of an object, the most elementary of tasks for a ten-month-old kid. A growing group of AI researchers think they know where the field went wrong. The problem, the scientists say, is that AI has been trying to separate the highest, most abstract levels of thought, like language and mathematics, and to duplicate them with logical, step-by-step programs. A new movement in AI, on the other hand, takes a closer look at the more roundabout way in which nature came up with intelligence. Many of these researchers study evolution and natural adaptation instead of formal logic and conventional computer programs. Rather than digital computers and transistors, some want to work with brain cells and proteins. The results of these early efforts are as promising as they are peculiar, and the new nature-based AI movement is slowly but surely moving to the forefront of the field. Imitating the brain's neural network is a huge step in the right direction, says computer scientist and biophysicist Michael Conrad, but it still misses an important aspect of natural intelligence. "People tend to treat the brain as if it were made up of color-coded transistors", he explains, "but it's not simply a clever network of switches. There are lots of important things going on inside the brain cells themselves. " Specifically, Conrad believes that many of the brain's capabilities stem from the pattern recognition proficiency of the individual molecules that make up each brain cell. The best way to build an artificially intelligent device, he claims, would be to build it around the same sort of molecular skills. Right now, the option that conventional computers and software are fundamentally incapable of matching the processes that take place in the brain remains controversial. But if it proves true, then the efforts of Conrad and his fellow AI rebels could turn out to be the only game in town.

单选题 Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.