铜鼓 (bronze drum)文化是中国南方地区典型的文化代表。在古代，铜鼓多用于祭拜、 出征仪式 (deploy-ing ritual)和庆祝活动。它是激动人心的 打击乐器 (percussion instrument)，给人们带来极大的精神鼓舞。在战场上，铜鼓还被用于传送信号、指挥作战。直至今日，许多少数民族依然保持着在传统节日、婚娶和丧葬等场合使用铜鼓的习俗。铜鼓文化极大地丰富了中华民族艺术的宝库。

Are we ready for the library of the future? A) Librarians today will tell you their job is not so much to take care of books but to give people access to information in all forms. Since librarians, like so many people, believe that the entire universe of commerce, communication and information is moving to digital form, they are on a reform to give people access to the Internet—to prevent them from becoming second-class citizens in an all-digital world. Something funny happened on the road to the digital library of the future, though. Far from becoming keepers of the keys to the Grand Database of Universal Knowledge, today's librarians are increasingly finding themselves in an unexpected, overloaded role: They have become the general public's last-resort providers of tech support. B) It wasn't supposed to be this way. Today's libraries offer a variety of media and social-cultural events—they are "blended libraries," to use a term created by Kathleen Imhoff, assistant director of the Broward County Library of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At the newly remodeled San Francisco Public Library, the computers are prominently displayed in the center of the library building while the books are all but hidden on the periphery (外围). Imhoff s own library has word processing and other types of software for visitors to use, Internet access, audio CDs, videotapes, concerts, lectures, books and periodicals in three forms (print, microfiche and digital). Many libraries have found that this kind of "blending" is hugely popular in their communities, and librarians explain the changes in their institutions' roles by pointing to the public demand for these new services. But other trends are at work, too. C) For some time, libraries have been automating their back-end, behind-the-desk functions for reasons of cost and convenience, just like any other business. Now, the computers have moved out from behind librarians' desks and onto the floor where the visitors are. This means that, suddenly, library-goers will have to know how to use those computers. This sounds reasonable enough until you take a close look Unfortunately, the same technology that cuts costs and relieves librarians of work behind the scenes increases it for the public—and for the librarians at the front desk who have to help the public figure out how to use the technology. The unhappy result: People are simply not finding the information they seek D) If you are just coming to the library to read a book for pleasure and you know what a card catalog is and you have some basic computer skills, then you are going to be OK, But if you are trying to find some specific information—say, whether software in the classroom helps kids learn better or the causes of lung cancer or the basic procedure for doing a cost-benefit analysis of computer systems (three topics I have actually tried to look up in the San Francisco library)—then you're in trouble. E) To begin with, library visitors must now be able to type, to use a mouse and a menu and to understand the various types of computer interfaces (terminal text, windows and browsers). It's also nice if you know 17 different ways to quit a program, which electronic databases you should look in for what kinds of information, the grammar necessary to define your search and the Library of Congress' controlled vocabulary. After I had been to the new San Francisco library three times, I started keeping a folder of instructions on how to do a keyword search, since I would forget between visits. F) Probably 50% of the population has never used a computer, fewer know how to type and almost nobody knows anything about electronic databases or searching grammar. As a result, the public library is now engaged in a massive attempt to teach computer literacy to the entire country. Some librarians compare it to the adult literacy programs the library also sponsors, but this is on a far larger scale—and less closely tied to the library's traditional mission. The response at each library system has been different. Some libraries actually give courses in word processing, accounting program and so on. But even at libraries where the staff has resisted becoming computer trainers, they are still forced to devote significant resources to the problem. G) Such has been the case in San Francisco, where people with disabilities can sign up to use the voice-recognition program Dragon Dictate—but only if they can prove they already know how to use the software. The librarians have neither the time nor the peculiar skill (nor the time to develop the skill) to teach it to them. At the reference desks, librarians try not to spend a lot of time teaching people the basics of how to use the computer, but sometimes it's unavoidable. "We try to get them started," says business librarian John Kenney. "We let them do as much as they can on their own and they come get us. It's certainly a big problem." H) The San Francisco library offers classes on its own electronic catalog, commercial periodical indexes and the Internet twice a week as well as occasional lectures about the Internet. Although it seems odd to me that people now need to take a two-hour class before they can use the library, the classes are always full. But despite the excellent teachers, two hours is simply not enough to meet the needs of the students, many of whom have never used a computer before in their lives and many of whom simply can't type. When I took the class one Tuesday, the man sitting next to me said he has used the library's computer catalog many times, but he keeps making typing mistakes without knowing it. This unexpectedly throws him into the wrong screens and he doesn't know how to get back. On the floor, he repeatedly has to ask a librarian for help. I) "Providing technology does not mean people can use the technology," says Marc Webb, a San Francisco librarian and one of the teachers. "Half the voters are still trying to read English." The library has also had to deal with the practical difficulties of making its catalog accessible via the Internet, a new service many libraries are starting to offer. "It's absolutely overwhelming," Webb says. "Everyone is getting to us with multiple transports, they're all using different software, they have Winsock or Telnet set up differently, and suddenly the library is forced to become a hardware and software help desk. When you're trying to tell someone over the telephone how to set up Winsock through AOL when this is the first time they've ever used a computer, it's very difficult."

四大发明 (the Four Great Inventions)是指中国古代对世界有巨大影响的四种发明。即造纸术、印刷术、 火药 (gunpowder)和指南针。造纸术和印刷术使信息的记录和传播有了革命性的进步。火药的发明和传播改变了 中世纪 (the Middle Ages)的战争模式。而指南针大大帮助了欧洲航海家探索新航路。四大发明是古代中国先进科学和技术的象征，在中国和世界文明发展中都有着重要的意义。

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Directions: College students have long been a social focus. Each year we can find that many undergraduates cannot find a good job. What'5 your advice to undergraduates? Please write an short essay entitled My Advice to the Undergraduates. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

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在中国， 玉 (jade)的历史可以追溯到 商朝 (the Shang Dynasty).数千年来，人们都视玉为最珍贵的石头。在古代，玉是仅限于宗教仪式的物品。在 封建社会 (imperial society)，玉是财富和社会地位的象征。人们普遍相信玉能辟邪，能保护佩戴者免于灾祸。玉饰不仅能使佩戴者更美丽，还能促进其身体健康。中国的玉石种类有很多，其中最出名的是新疆的和田玉。

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中国古建筑具有悠久的历史和辉煌的成就，是中国传统文化的重要组成部分。中国古建筑包括宫殿、民居、寺庙和园林等。它们具有明显的地域性、民族性与时代性。中国古建筑不仅仅是一门技术科学，同时也吸收了中国绘画和 雕刻 (carving)等传统艺术。北京 故宫 (the Forbidden City)就是其中的典型代表。它是规模最大、最精美、保存最完整的古建筑群。

TV Linked to Lower MarksA)The effect of television on children has been debated ever since the first sets were turned on. Now three new studies find that too much tube time can lower test scores, retard(妨碍)learning and even predict college performance. The reports appear in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.B)In the first report, researchers studied the effect that having a TV in a child' s bedroom can have on third graders. "We looked at the household media environment in relation to academic achievement on mathematics, reading and language arts tests," said study author Dina Borzekowski, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.C)Borzekowski and her colleague, Dr. Thomas Robinson of Stanford University, collected data on 386 third graders and their parents about how much TV the children watched, the number of TV sets, computers and video game consoles in the household and where they were. They also collected data on how much time the children spent using the different media, as well as the time spent doing homework and reading. The researchers found that the media in the household, where it is and how it is used can have a profound effect on learning. "We found that the household media environment has a very close association with performance on the different test scores," Borzekowski said.D)"A child who has a TV in his or her bedroom is likely to have a score that is eight points lower on a mathematics test compared to a child who doesn't have a TV in the bedroom," she noted. These children also scored lower on the reading and language arts tests. However, children who have access to a home computer are likely to have higher scores on each of the tests compared with children who don't have access to a home computer, Borzekowski noted.E)The reasons why TV has this negative effect are not clear, Borzekowski said. "When there' s TV in the bedroom, parents are less likely to have control over the content and the amount watched," Borzekowski said. "They are also unable to know how early or how late the set is on. This seems to be associated with kids' performance on academic tests." Borzekowski believes that content and the time the TV is on may be the primary reasons for its negative effect. "If the TV is in the family room, then parents can see the content of what children are watching," she said. "Parents can choose to sit alongside and watch, or turn the set off. A simple and straightforward, positive parenting strategy is to keep the TV out of the child's bedroom, or remove it if it's already there."F)In the second report, Dr. Robert Hancox from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and colleagues found, regardless of your intelligence or social background, if you watch a lot of TV during childhood, you are a lot less likely to have a college degree by your mid-20s. In their study, the researchers followed 1,037 people born in 1972 and 1973. Every two years, between the ages of 5 and 15, they were asked how much television they watched. The researchers found that those who watched the most television during these years had earned fewer degrees by the time they were 26. "We found that the more television the child had watched, the more likely they were to leave school without any qualifications," Hancox said in a prepared statement. "Those who watched little television had the best chance of going on to university and earning a degree."G)Hancox's team found that watching TV at an early age had the most effect on graduating from college. "An interesting finding was that although teenage viewing was strongly linked to leaving school without any qualifications, it was earlier childhood viewing that had the greatest impact on getting a degree," he said. "This suggests that excessive television in younger children has a long-lasting adverse effect on educational performance."H)In the third paper, Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis from the University of Washington report that, for very young children, watching TV can result in lower test scores in mathematics, reading recognition and reading comprehension. "We looked at how much television children watched before age 3 and then at ages 3 to 5," Zimmerman said. "We found that for children who watched a small amount of TV in the earlier years, there was consider able beneficial effect compared to children who watched a lot of TV."I)For children aged 3 to 5, the effect was not as clear, Zimmerman said. "There were some beneficial effects of watching TV on reading, but no beneficial effects for math or vocabulary," he noted. "The worst pattern was to watch more than three hours of TV before age 3. Those kids had a significant disadvantage compared to the other kids." Parents should follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation, which is no TV for children under 2, Zimmerman said. "Personally, I feel the cutoff should be children under 3, because there is just not any good content for children under 3."J)One expert believes that TV can have both positive and negative effects, but it all depends on what children are watching. "Content matters," said Deborah Linebarger, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who co-authored an accompanying editorial. "Educational content has been found to be related to performance on school readiness tests, higher grades when they are teenagers, whereas, non-educational content tends to be associated with lower academic performance."K)Another expert agrees. "TV watching takes up space that could be used by more useful things," said Dr. Christopher Lucas, a clinical coordinator at the Early Childhood Evaluation and Treatment Program at the New York University Child Study Center. "TV is not necessarily toxic, but is something that has to be done in moderation: something that balances the other needs of the child for healthy development." L)Lucas puts the responsibility for how much TV kids watch and what they watch squarely on parents. "The amount of TV watching certainly has a link with the reduced amount of time reading or doing homework," he said. "The key is the amount of control parents have in limiting the amount of access. Get the TV out of the bedroom: be aware of what is being watched: limit the amount of TV watching."

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中国的教育体制分为三个阶段：基础教育、高等教育和成人教育。基础教育包括学前教育(pre-schooleducation)、小学和中学。高等教育由职业专科学校、学院和大学组成。1986年，中国开始实行从小学到初中的九年制义务教育(nine-year compulsory education)政策。中国政府把教育放在优先发展的战略地位，提出了“科教兴国”的战略方针。在政府和人民的共同努力下，中国的教育取得了历史性的成就。

如今每逢圣诞节来临，中国的城市到处都是圣诞的迹象。圣诞节越来越受到人们，尤其是年轻人的欢迎。其他的西方节日，如 感恩节 (Thanksgiving Day)也日益流行。一些学者担心年轻人过分崇尚西方节日，而对中国传统节日的热情逐渐降温。其实对于许多中国人来说，西方节日只是一些能让他们和朋友一起放松、聚会的日子。他们觉得没有必要去抵制西方节日。

Topic A Letter of ConsolationFor this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to console your friend whose family has suffered a terrible earthquake following the outline given below. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. 你的朋友李明所住的地方发生了地震，请给他写一封慰问信。信中应包含以下内容： 1．询问李明以及家人的情况是否安好 2．表达你的慰问并表示愿意提供帮助等

Executive paychecks might grab the most headlines, but it's top-tier medical professionals who are bringing in the biggest salaries, according to the most recent Occupational Employment Statistics survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Leading the list once again is anesthesiologist(麻醉师), with an average annual salary of $ 235 070. General and specialized physicians dominate the 10 best-paying jobs in the country. Further down the list, internists, family and general practitioners, and psychiatrists continue the trend. According to the BLS, healthcare industry expansion means that employment for physicians and surgeons is expected to grow nearly 20% between 2012 and 2022—faster than the average for all occupations. The lone representative of the corporate org. chart that makes the list is chief executive, coming in at number 10 with an average annual salary of $ 178 400. While the relative absence of the C-suite in the top 10 best-paying jobs might raise a few eyebrows, the occupations at the other end of the spectrum pack fewer surprises. The worst-paying job in America is fast food cook, a job that pays an average of $ 9.07 hourly, or $ 18 870 for those employed full-time, year-round. In fact, restaurant and food-service industry jobs occupy the majority of rungs at the lowest end of the wage ladder, with various positions in food preparation, dish washing, and counter and cafeteria service all paying at or below about $ 20 000 annually. Shampooers also bring in some of the lowest wages, at an average $ 9.09 per hour, or $ 18 910 annually, as do theater ushers, amusement park attendants, and farm workers. Perhaps more significant than the difference between wages at the top and bottom of the compensation spectrum is how many more people hold low-wage jobs than high-wage jobs. According to the BLS, "Most of the largest occupations were relatively low paying. Of the 10 largest occupations, only registered nurses, with an annual mean wage of $ 68 910, had an average wage above the US all-occupations mean of $ 22.33 per hour or $ 46 440 annually Annual mean wages for the rest of the 10 largest occupations ranged from $ 18 880 for combined food preparation and serving workers to $ 34 000 for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive. "

For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to make an apology to Bob in Canada, for you have just come back from Canada and found a music CD in your luggage that you forgot to return to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

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《红楼梦》 (A Dream of Red Mansions)写成于18世纪，是中国著名的古典长篇小说。小说共计120回，前80回的作者是曹雪芹，后40回由高鹗完成。通过对贾氏 封建大家族 (feudal clan)生活的生动描述，《红楼梦》展示了 清朝 (the Qing Dynasty)封建社会的兴衰。小说塑造了大量的人物，其中主要人物就将近40个。以该小说为题材的艺术作品很多，其中最成功的当属1987年由王扶林导演的电视连续剧《红楼梦》。