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The United States' predominance in science and technology is fading, a report released this month by the National Science Board warns. The report underlines what a powerhouse the United States【C1】______in knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, including high-tech manufacturing, energy and drug industry. All in all, those industries【C2】______for about 40 percent of American economic output, more than in any other developed country, it finds. But with the rise of increasingly【C3】______emerging economies, the report suggests, underinvestment in research and development might translate into a less【C4】______, less productive American economy in the future. The world is【C5】______a "dramatic shift in the global scientific: landscape," said Dan E. Arvizu, chairman of the National Science Board. "Emerging economies understand the【C6】______science and innovation play in the global marketplace and in economic competitiveness and have increasingly placed a【C7】______on building their capacity in science and technology," he said. The Asian economies now perform a larger【C8】______of global research and development than the United States does. China carries out about as much high-tech manufacturing as the United States does, the report found. But the report also highlights some important market sectors where the United States appears to be falling behind. More【C9】______, the report finds that the United States might be【C10】______in the research and development spending that scientists say is the most important fuel for future innovation. Moreover, many countries spend larger and faster-growing proportions of their economic output on research.A) account E) directly I) limited M) shareB) competitive F) dominant J) priority N) undergoingC) concern G) effect K) remains O) worryinglyD) decays H) lagging L) role

和亲(peace-making marriage)政策可以追溯到西汉时期(the Western Han Dynasty)。当时西汉政府为了缓和与匈奴的关系，将公主嫁给匈奴部落(Xiongnu tribes)的首领。人们对和亲一直有着不同的看法。有人对和亲持肯定态度，因为和亲可以停止战争，与少数民族建立和平友好的关系。而另一些人则认为和亲政策是一种妥协和投降。总的来说，和亲政策有利有弊，应放在当时的历史环境下来考虑。

Music in higher education: what is it worth?[A] Music has found itself increasingly central in the subject controversy surrounding higher education (HE). Recent data showed the total number of Universities and Colleges Admissions Service entries to study music rose by 3.5% in the 2013 cycle, following significant increases in applications for medical-related sciences, mathematical sciences, computer sciences, engineering and economics. Yet numbers of prospective higher education applicants who studied music A-level fell last year by 7%.[B] Many music educators speak of feeling marginalized (边缘化), with their subject excluded from the Ebacc (英国文凭考试) and noticeably absent from the Stem grouping (science, technology, engineering and maths)—absent too from the Russell Group's approved list of "facilitating subjects" (ones that will "keep a wide range of degree courses and career options open to you").[C] The value of studying music in higher education in the context of the economically-charged narrative on education provided the background to a recent roundtable discussion held at the Royal Academy of Music and involving senior figures from higher education, sixth-form education and the arts industry. All participants in the roundtable agreed that studying music at higher education equips students with a range of transferable skills that are of inestimable (不可估量的) value in the workplace. Music education and cultural value[D] Contributing under the Chatham House rule, which allows comments to be reported freely, panel members began by disagreeing over the relationship between music education and cultural value. "We are beginning to look at the question of music education from the other end of the telescope, not so much in terms of what happens during the period of education, but afterwards," said one contributor.[E] One speaker argued that the relationship between music education and cultural value was not necessarily a direct one. "Many of those who add cultural value to the country do so because there is value here already. Our cultural value is increased by a critical mass coming from all over the world that wants to be part of our scene. The role musical education plays in cultural value, or to put it crudely, what we are producing in terms of the economy, is probably falling rather than increasing." This comment was contested by another member of the panel, who cited the increasing numbers of foreign students studying music at UK institutions, and personal evidence from those who claimed that paying more to study in the UK was worth it for the extra value they gained from being educated here. Another pointed to the legally binding commitments made by government to promote musical participation in 2011-12 and, more recently, the National Plan for Music.[F] However, others around the table did acknowledge that UK institutions lacked the political backing enjoyed by their European peers or the financial power of America, "only just paying the bills on the back of a British mess of fees, poor fund and a scratchy targeted portion of HE funding," as one panellist put it.Instrumental or natural?[G] The discussion over what skills music graduates hold, both on academic or vocational courses, was noticeably more one-sided. High-end ability in collaboration, analysis, work ethic, sympathy, innovation and performing well under pressure were cited by numerous contributors as those that were compulsory in any decent music student. "The qualities one would be after in a work-force suitable to meet the challenges of today's economy are all those found in a music graduate," noted one commentator. "We need to break up this myth that musicians are self-prevailing and just create more musicians," added another—top city firms, accountancy organisations and computing companies as among those who favour music graduates as potential employees.[H] There was growing frustration among the panel concerning both the role of higher education institutions in promoting music and the continued justification of musical study from a non-musical perspective. "It's time for music departments to wake up and promote more clearly their value and benefits," said one contributor. "The value of HE music itself has been clouded by the panic over school music. We don't sell music at HE by saying it will make you more literate, or better at maths. It has an inborn value."[I] "People in music know what highly skilled music students can do, and what music adds to the lives of people, but we keep saying society does not understand," added another. "Why? Either because we can't assert our own value, or because we refuse to engage with society."Education access[J] Despite general consensus as to the inherent cultural-economic value of musical study, there was considerable discontent around the table about its accessibility. One speaker commented on the decreasing number of music students at top institutions coming from backgrounds other than "music specialist schools, and private schools". Another complained about the lack of focus from government regarding ring-fenced (专项的) money for music hubs (活动中心) beyond 2015, pointing out the risk of increased private outsourcing, uneven regional provision and, ultimately, a situation in which only those with financial advantage can access musical training to a standard that will enable them to pursue it to higher education.[K] In this context, the facilitating subjects of Russell Group universities came under harsh criticism from some commentators, who argued that there was disagreement over their significance among leading universities, misunderstanding by schools and hijacking (劫持) by government in the latest round of league tables. This, two speakers agreed, was directing first generation students away from music at higher education by disconnecting the subject from a perspective on higher education dominated by tuition fees and employability.[L] A general note of warning was sounded by one about the upcoming loss of students from postgraduate study in the next five years as a result of financial pressures, and all agreed that higher education departments needed to do more to just utter the value of music in a public forum. "We need to reconnect music with the world of ideas," one panelist concluded. "We can pull people into music through linking the ideas, science, film and literature that surround the context of musical creation. We must not fall back into isolation, but rather communicate the obvious value of music."

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For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled On Chinese Fever following the outline given below. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. 1．世界各地兴起了汉语热 2．汉语热兴起的原因 3．我的看法

BSection C/B

优越的战略位置、通讯条件(communications)和商业文化，促进了香港经济和社会迅速发展。

Designing for sustainability: what are the challenges behind green materials?[A] Learning to surf in California's icy breakers, Todd Copeland, a design master at the Patagonia clothing company, concluded that wetsuits (潜水服) weren't cutting it. Sure, a traditional Neoprene (氯丁橡胶) suit could keep him warm, but the suit's material could be synthesised only from non-renewable, energy-intensive resources such as petroleum.[B] In spring 2008, Copeland blogged about the need for a truly green alternative. And, later that summer, his cry found its way to Yulex, an Arizona-based company working to bring back a low-energy, low-poison recipe for rubber from guayuie (银胶菊), a desert bush native to North America. Research on the plant peaked during the Second World War but was then shelved. Yulex had restarted the work around 2000 and was making hypo-allergenic (低过敏的) surgical gloves, but was seeking a new market. It saw Copeland's post, and soon its representatives came knocking.[C] Yulex's efforts are set to pay off later this fall, when Patagonia releases a full wetsuit made from a 60:40 blend of guayule and conventional Neoprene, five years after Copeland initiated the search. "We hope to get that to 100% guayuie, but it takes time to learn a new material," says Copeland, now Patagonia's environmental product specialist.[D] This lucky match between designer and material maker is, unfortunately, a rare exception. The tale of Patagonia's eco-wetsuit offers a lesson of the larger challenge facing green materials on the path from lab to market. The process remains a complex web that few materials survive. But a recent survey of design leaders reveals that while eco-materials still face a tougher journey than their conventional peers, the process of green technology transfer is making progress.[E] Though spotty, statistics on green materials markets are all pointing up. The building industry is one of the largest shifting towards lower-impact practices. In the US, the green construction market is worth roughly $100bn, a ten-fold rise since 2006, according to the 2013 Dodge Construction Green Outlook. As a share, green construction now accounts for 44% of total US commercial and institutional construction, up from near zero a decade ago.[F] Evidence suggests that big corporations are deepening their commitment to these priorities, as well. For example, Green adoption has also been accelerating at Ford. A decade ago, engineers at the No. 2 US automaker were distrustful of the cost and performance benefits of alternatives. Today, following a storm of successful material substitutions, design engineers are required to evaluate and pick green candidates where they equal or exceed conventional materials.[G] Ford's shift didn't come quickly. "We were kicked out of conference rooms," laughs Debbie Mielewski, technical leader for Plastics Research at Ford Motor Co, recalling her efforts in the early 2000s to pitch bio-based plastics to the car maker's internal development engineers. "They saw only risk and additional cost," she says. But thanks to the protection of Bill Ford Jr, the company's then CEO, Ford's bio-plastics R&D program had the time and funding to mature new offerings to the point where today soy-based polyurethane foams (大豆聚氨酯泡沫塑料) are used in the seat cushions, backs, and headrests of all vehicles built in North America. A focus on value and performance has helped reverse early disbelief. "Our goal has always been to match the price and performance of any material we're hoping to replace," she says.[H] As its commitment to recover and re-use waste carpet materials started to take root in the 1990s, Atlanta-based Interface, a $lbn-per-year manufacturer of carpet used primarily in commercial spaces, recognised it could push this goal only as quickly as a key fibre supplier, Italy's Aquafil, was able to develop and scale-up processes to harvest fibers from recovered carpets and to then re-melt them for use in new carpeting. "This was more of us pushing recycled materials," by Interface, "rather than a pull" from the market, says Nigel Stansfield, Interface's vice president and chief innovations officer. "We had to overcome a perception that recycled was more costly, or performed less well."[I] Interface also faced a reverse logistics (物流) challenge: it had to work with existing and new partners to learn how to capture and truck tons of carpet back to its partner plants. "To make this work, we've had to focus on all parts of the product's life cycle at once," Stansfield says. At the installation phase, for example, this has meant educating flooring installers to abandon long-standing practices of gluing carpets down, which damages the material at the later recovery stage. Interface instead relies on gravity and strong gluey patches to link its carpet tile and keep carpets locked down. And at the end-of-use stage, the move has meant developing reverse logistics flows, to steer carpet waste away from landfills, and back to re-processors such as Aquafil.[J] Designers are widely frustrated by a lack of consistent, reliable services that can verify green materials' virtues. The industry needs a "greenwash monitor (漂绿监控)," Patagonia's Copeland says. There has been some movement toward this goal, with efforts including Nike's MAKING app, Material Connexion, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Green materials can fail an evaluation for many reasons. A few years ago, Patagonia became interested in bamboo-based fabrics. The cultivation of fast-growing bamboo was appealing as a sustainable raw material. But on deeper investigation, Patagonia passed on the new fabrics because the process to convert bamboo into fibres proved just as poisonous as the standard method.[K] "Most clients think that sustainable design is simply a case of switching existing material for a greener option," says Chris Sherwin, head of sustainability at Seymourpowell, a London-based design advisor. "Same product, new material: that's wrong on many grounds." Sherwin argues that it's critical to understand that the stuff from which a product is made often accounts for only a tiny fraction of the impact of the use-phase of a product's lifetime. Hence, it's smarter for laundry soap makers to improve the performance of their cleansers in cold water rather than focus solely on revising packaging. "We should start with more fundamental product redesign," Sherwin says. "We must start by asking, how will the consumers' needs best be satisfied, and design accordingly."

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杭州是浙江省的省会城市，是浙江省的政治、经济和文化中心。杭州历史悠久，是中国著名的七大古都之一。杭州也是著名的旅游城市，被誉为人间天堂(paradise)，意大利旅行家马可-波罗(Macro Polo)曾称赞它为“世界上最美丽华贵之城”。位于市中心的西湖景区以其秀丽的湖光山色和众多的历史遗迹闻名中外。杭州特产众多，其中以丝绸和茶叶最受欢迎。

For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled On Urban Waterlogging (内涝) following the outline given below. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.1．如今不少大城市一下暴雨就出现城市内涝的现象2．出现这一现象的原因3．我对这一现象的看法和建议 On Urban Waterlogging

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Green Burials: Thinking Outside the BoxA)When Bonnie Ramey buried her husband two years ago, she knew she didn't want to have a typical funeral ceremony at a landscaped cemetery plot. "The commercialization of funerals is getting out of control," she said. " They get you at your weakest point. In my opinion, they're just ripping off the dead. " Bonnie and her husband, Charles, both nature lovers, spent many hours hiking through the wooded Appalachian foothills surrounding their home in rural South Carolina. So after Charles died, Bonnie's choice of burial spots was an easy one—down the road from her house is Memorial Ecosystems, one of the only places in the United States devoted to environmentally sensitive or "green" burials. Simple Living, Simple DyingB)The ideas behind "green" burials are simple. Bodies are not embalmed(对尸体进行防腐处理). Elaborate caskets made of metal or rare tropical hardwoods are replaced with fabric burial shrouds or simple, biodegradable(生物所能分解的)coffins made of wood or cardboard. Concrete grave liners or vaults that prevent the ground above the coffin from settling are avoided. Perhaps most significantly, in place of carefully trimmed cemetery grounds, native plants and wildflowers are allowed to flourish, turning the burial ground into a nature preserve. "It preserves the land and the habitat for the animals," said Ramey. "Our habitat is going quickly, and if we don't preserve it, we won't have any. " Though there are over 200 green cemeteries in Great Britain, the movement is unknown in the United States. South Carolina, Florida, California and Texas have the only four green cemeteries currently operating in America. Several more green burial facilities are being planned throughout the country.Everything Old Is New AgainC)"A green burial is not about extra work—it's about not doing extra work," said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a group of grassroots organizations interested in alternatives to the choices offered by the funeral industry. And for advocates of green burials, these aren't unique or unusual ceremonies. " What people need to remember is that this is not new," said Slocum. "This is a return to what we used to do before the commercial funeral industry came along. "D)Indeed, many religious traditions follow the basic principles of green burials. Traditional Jewish burial rites, for example, view embalming as an insult to the dead. Only coffins made completely of wood are allowed—a metal coffin would be a disrespectful effort to artificially preserve the body. The modern practice of embalming is relatively new. It was largely unknown until the Civil War, when bodies of Union soldiers were often embalmed in preparation for the long trip home from Southern battlefields. Civil War-area embalming fluids contained poisonous arsenic(砒霜). Formaldehyde(甲醛)is now used as a preservative(防腐剂), but formaldehyde is not without its risks.Does Embalming Cause Cancer?E)Studies by the National Cancer Institute have found that embalmers and anatomists(解剖学家), exposed daily to formaldehyde, are at an increased risk for leukemia and brain cancer. NCI investigators concluded that exposure to formaldehyde may particularly cause myeloid(骨髓的)leukemia, though further studies are needed. The International Agency for Research on Cancer lists formaldehyde as a known matter which can cause cancer. It is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as a suspected carcinogen(致癌物质), and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration has established a permissible exposure limit of 0. 75 parts per million averaged over an 8-hour work shift. Consumers are often confused about state and local requirements for dealing with dead bodies, and it's generally assumed that health codes require embalming.Not So, According to SlocumF)"Embalming is never routinely required by law," said Slocum, adding that cold storage is an acceptable alternative for preserving a body, in addition to being much safer and less invasive. "No law requires a casket," Slocum adds. "And a grave liner or vault—nowhere are they required by law. "Voicing Environmental ConcernsG)In addition to concerns over formaldehyde exposure, some suspect that the preservative may be leaking into groundwater supplies from the millions of bodies buried every year. The fact that elevated levels of arsenic have been found in the groundwater near Civil War-era cemeteries buttresses the argument. Formaldehyde has been found in groundwater sampling wells near cemeteries. But scientific data are limited, and formaldehyde's long-term health effects in the environment are believed to be minor—formaldehyde evaporates readily and is biodegradable.H)But the environmental effects of cemeteries go beyond formaldehyde. Some land-use planners are concerned about the impact of turning vast tracts of land into heavily landscaped cemeteries, and the resulting use of fertilizers, pesticides, water supplies and gasoline-powered landscaping equipment. "Cemeteries just seemed like an ecological wasteland," said David Schroeder, a landscape architect-in-training who specializes in green burial sites. " There was a period of time in the 1800s when cemeteries were designed like parks," said Schroeder. " They were like a garden. Now, most are about economics. "I)As an example of the economics that drive burial practices, Schroeder points to the cemetery vaults and grave liners that are not required by the law, but are required by most cemeteries. " Cemetery vaults are designed to keep the ground flat to make things easier for the lawn mowers," he said. In Schroeder's model for green burials, the topsoil is separated from other layers of soil, and is returned to its original place after the body is placed in the grave. " The top layers are a biological hotbed. Seeds and microbes(微生物)are kept near the surface," he said.J)Preserving undeveloped land was foremost in John Wilkerson's mind when he and his brother created Glendale Memorial Gardens, a green burial site in north Florida. One of the last wishes of Wilkerson's father was that the family farm be protected from development. Both of his parents are now buried on the site. "It was the best answer we could find to keep this farm from being developed," said Wilkerson. "It took their death to speed action. They did not like the idea of the circus, the modern-day funeral," said Wilkerson. "They thought it was out of control, it was ridiculous. " But in addition to the environmental benefits, most families participating in green burials agree that the cost savings are significant. " There is, in fact, a large percentage of American people who are resistant to the large $ 10,000 funeral, especially the embalming. We don't even allow it," said Wilkerson. Estimates vary from state to state, but the average cost of a typical funeral in a commercial cemetery is between $5,000 and $ 10,000. A green burial, however, is usually less than $ 3,000. "We have allowed the commercial funeral industry to convince us that the only way to measure our love for our dead is through the amount of conspicuous consumption that we lavish on them," said Slocum.

Over the past decade, the environmental movement has exploded onto the mind of mainstream consumers, a fact not lost on marketers and advertisers. Green advertising started in the mid-1980s when issues of the environment muscled their way to the forefront of marketing. Advertisers saw the consumer desire for environmentally safe products and tried to meet the demand as quickly as possible. Not surprisingly, this first wave suffered from rough and poorly conceived marketing efforts. Many advertisers embraced a genuine concern for the environment. But consumers realized that some companies made false claims and exploited the movement, using such nebulous(模糊的)terms as "environmentally friendly" and "green." Consumers grew wary of environmental appeals, and advertisers reacted by reducing its emphasis. To avoid future trouble, many companies waited for state and federal governments to define terms and provide legal guidelines, which paved the road to a second wave. In 1992 the Federal Trade Commission established guidelines for green marketing, followed shortly by state governments. California passed particularly strict laws, setting definitions for terms like "ozone friendly, " "biodegradable, " and "recycled."According to the state's court, "California seeks to guard against potentially specious: claims or ecological puffery(吹捧)about products with minimal environmental attributes. "Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Tennessee, Connecticut, and Washington soon followed the Golden State' s lead. The rigid regulations have left a number of advertisers confused and frustrated, although some feel that environmental claims have already peaked and are on their way out. Some believe that we' ve now entered green advertising' s third wave, where environmental concern is now part of the mainstream.

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自古以来黄颜色就与中国传统文化有着紧密联系。中国的第一个皇帝称为“ 黄帝 ”(Yellow Emperor)；中华民族的母亲河为“黄河”；中国人的皮肤为“黄皮肤”。 五行学说 (the theory of five elements)认为黄颜色位居五行的中央，居于诸色之上，最为贵，黄色也因此被定为皇帝服装的颜色。 明清两朝 (the Ming and QingDynasties)，黄色为皇家专用色彩，是权力的象征。直到现在，黄色仍然是中国人最喜爱的颜色之一。