单选题 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying 'The early bird catches the worm.' You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of diligence. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

单选题One in six. Believe it Or not, that's the number of Americans who Struggle with hunger. To make tomorrow a little better, Feeding America, the nation's largest 26 hunger-relief organization, has chosen September as Hunger Action Month. As part of its 30 Ways in 30 Days program, it's asking 27 across the country to help the more than 200 food banks and 61, 000 agencies in its network provide low-income individuals and families with the fuel they need to 28 . It's the kind of work that's done every day at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in San Antonio. People who 29 at its front door on the first and third Thursdays of each month aren't looking for God—they're there for something to eat. St. Andrew's runs a food pantry (食品室) that 30 the city and several of the 31 towns. Janet Drane is its manager. In the wake of the 32 , the number of families in need of food assistance began to grow. It is 33 that 49 million Americans are unsure of where they will find their next meal. What's most surprising is that 36% of them live in 34 where at least one adult is working. 'It used to be that one job was all you needed.' says St. Andrew's Drane. 'The people we see now have three or four part-time jobs and they're still right on the edge 35 .' A. accumulate B. circling C. communities D. competition E. domestic F. financially G. formally H. gather J. recession K. reported L. reviewed M. serves N. surrounding O. survive I. households

单选题 Abby Subark is a mother of two kids from Boston. 'For my kids, I'm nervous. I don't know if they'll be able to achieve their American dream.' She may be right. More than hard work or education, the best way to get rich in America is to be born rich. It is the case that somebody who is in the upper third of income, with poor scores, at the bottom on tests when they are in eighth grade, is more likely to go to college and finish college than a poor kid with the top scores. That's what the working person's children are up against. The Economic Policy Institute finds it would take a poor couple with 2 children 9 or 10 generations to achieve middle class status. That's about 200 years. The typical feature of American opportunity has always been the ability to do better than your parents. But compared with similar developed countries, the United States ranks fifth out of six for so-called intergenerational mobility (变动). If you look at the mechanisms (机制) for upward mobility that were so readily available 50 years ago, they are becoming out of reach, like plentiful factory jobs with good wages and affordable education and health care. White families are twice as likely as blacks to be upwardly mobile. For most people in America today, where you end up depends on where you start. If you started in the middle-income class, about 40 to 45 percent of what you are making right now is due to the fact that your parents were in the middle-income class. The rest is up to you. But for the millions of people who find themselves below the poverty line and the millions more who are the working poor, their starting point for the American dream leaves them painfully far away from the middle class.

单选题 The Psychology of Weddings A. Weddings, like any other major life event, can bring out the best and worst in all of us: generosity, creativity, humor, as well as jealousy, control, and even boredom. Many times, women and men approach weddings from vastly different points of view. It seems that women are more obvious about their feelings, yet weddings also deeply affect men as well—especially, of course, the groom. Here are some insights into women's psychology of weddings. B. All women have, at some level, an amount of 'wedding indoctrination (教条)' buried deep within. We are raised to believe in the 'fairy-tale romance', and whether the idea is appealing or revolting, we've all been exposed over and over again to the notion of being rescued by a handsome prince riding on a white horse. There's also not much of a leap between a bride and a princess in the female psyche. The traditional bridal gown is our one opportunity to be 'Queen for a Day'. Our officiant (司仪牧师) 'crowns' us in front of loving spectators and pronounces us husband and wife, and after much fanfare (号角声), we are served an elegant meal by those who wait on us. The bride even has her very own attendant and the maid of honor. C. The ceremony itself is expected by many women to be 'perfect'; a wealth of advertising budgets are spent convincing you that one service or product will help you 'create the perfect day'. 'Perfect', in fact, is probably the word used most often in wedding advertising. Ladies, it's our one opportunity in life to play the ultimate dress-up, make a grand entrance with the perfect dress, hair, makeup, and more. We express our vows with perfect grace and poise, exchange rings as symbols of our eternal bond and then turn to face our adoring audience as they spend the remainder of the day congratulating and admiring us. The photographer captures each precious moment as it unfolds. As we arrive at the reception and are presented (complete with our new title), we are seated above the crowd, surrounded by our admirers, beautiful flowers, gifts, and music. We are the first to be served, the first to dance, and the first to cut the cake. When else in our lives is one day centered completely around us? D. While men tend to think of all this that women take very seriously as a lot of hoopla (喧闹), those who take it a little too seriously turn into the dreaded 'Bridezilla'—the ultimate control freak (控制欲强的人) and perfectionist who delights in bossing others around, who is never satisfied. For most brides, however, the wedding is an experience in the ultimate event planning. Although many advertisers claim that weddings can and should be stress-free, we all know that they never are. We place too much importance—consciously or unconsciously—on our wedding to have a casual attitude about it. What is it within us women, in particular, that demands such impossibly high standards? E. First, let's look at the 'Queen for a Day' analogy (类比). Women still struggle with discrimination, even in 21st-century America. We all share the same wound, whether we are self-made CEOs bathing in the limelight (关注的中心), or berated (挨骂的) customer service agents bathing in a sea of gray corporate cubicles (小隔间). We all struggle to be taken seriously, even if it is just for a day. Rather ironic, then, is that a large and often complex event like a wedding offers us symbolic respite (暂缓) from the lack of control we often feel in our daily life. Men, by contrast, truly don't seem to get angry when the bouquet (花束) is not what was originally chosen. Men just seem to be able to roll with these things, generally speaking, so much better than women. F. And 'better than' is exactly what's deeply buried underneath all our expectations, hopes, and dreams. While women strive to show that, on this one single day, they can be 'better' than any other day, men sail through all the planning details with nonchalance (冷淡). When men get involved in the planning details, the meaning of it all just isn't there like it is for women. Men don't care if there are roses or lilies. Somehow, they've managed to keep their focus on the one thing that really counts: that they are committing to the love of their lives if they're married at the end of the day, that's all that really matters. We know it, and they know it. So, how do we as women find our balance? G. First, we have to take a bold and daring look inside ourselves. In our drive for perfectionism, we as women have possibly encountered some degree of ironic failure. It's more often that men, our beloved husbands, who keep a cool head and (if we have just a little awareness) show us that, they are 'better'. They've probably not lost any sleep over the details of the planning. They may have tossed and turned the night before the wedding when the reality of 'lifelong commitment' starts to sink in, but that's fodder (素材) for another article. H. So ladies, what's the worst that could happen if our wedding isn't perfect? Do we think our audience of beloved family and friends will realize we aren't perfect either? Oh no! Perhaps they will think we don't deserve our new status. Or, even worse, maybe they just won't take us seriously. I. This may all sound too harsh, but as a woman, a bride, a bridesmaid, and a wedding guest, I've seen it firsthand. All of us—women and men included—strive to prove to ourselves each day that we matter, that we are important, capable, and above all, worthy. We can convince ourselves that everyone adores us and is ever so impressed by us. For women, delusions of grandeur (妄自尊大) come out in full force at our weddings, and many other more mundane occasions. And, to be fair, men's do too—just usually not at weddings.

单选题Most people feel the need to make sure everyone in a group is comfortable before they start a business meeting. This pre-discussed conversation—small talk—can cover a wide range of topics, some of 24 may not be related to agenda for the meeting. In most countries, building personal connections is a 25 first step in making sure that business goes smoothly. People often use this phase of interaction to observe and assess the character of their colleagues. In the Middle East, business men like to get to know new 26 before starting a meeting. They often judge people's response to certain topics by 27 their eyes, so they need to be able to sit or stand very close to the person. Small talk tends to continue until the people involved are comfortable enough to move close to one another. In Latin American and Asian countries, people also want to 28 if an acquaintance can be trusted. For them, business is conducted with an individual, not a company, so it's important to have an honest 29 before any business is discussed. In the United States, 30 , most business people prefer an extremely limited small talk period. When they arrive for a meeting, they expect to begin the business discussion 31 away, perhaps after just a few minutes of greetings and 32 . Most Americans feel that time is as valuable as money, so talking extensively about the weather, hobbies, or the plane trip is 33 as a waste of time. They are likely to become impatient if the subject turns away from the business of the day. A. however B. which C. qualify D. acquaintances E. provoke F. observing G. hint H. relationship I. determine J. immense K. introductions L. crucial M. loan N. seen O. right

单选题If you're in charge of Christmas dinner, with all its interconnected tasks and challenges of timing—when to preheat the oven whether to put the potatoes in before the eggs—why not write down every 26 that needs doing, in order, then do them, checking them off as you go? That can be very helpful. The Checklist Manifesto, written by the journalist and doctor Atul Gawande, shows the importance of checklist when hospital doctors are 27 to tick off items on checklists as they carry out routine but critical procedures. In one trial, the rate of infections from intravenous (静脉内的) drips fell from 11% of all patients to zero 28 because staff were compelled to work through a checklist of no-brainer items, such as 29 their hands. A more recent study, which included UK hospitals, suggested that wider use of checklists might 30 40% of deaths during treatment. Unlike in medicine, the 31 uses of checklists in everyday life—a list for holiday packing, for instance, aren't usually matters of life and death. The idea of making a checklist is so stupidly obvious that it seems impossible it could have so 32 an effect. But the truth is that all life, not just medicine, is 33 complex; if highly trained intensive-care specialists can forget a 34 step, it's sure that anyone might. Besides, the step-by-step structure of checklists can narrow your 35 to the next action. All you have to remember is to 'do the next right thing'. Then the next, and the next. A. potential B. required C. crucial D. subject E. vast F. action G. washing H. prevent I. simply J. increasingly K. focus L. normally M. gradual N. request O. shaking

单选题 中国经济正处在转型的关键阶段。中国已经不能继续沿用高消耗、高投入的旧模式，而必须加大力度调整经济结构和转变经济增长方式。我国将继续推进行政管理(administrative management)、金融部门和物价的改革。服务业将愈发成为我国经济中的重要支柱。作为最大的就业容纳器，服务业为经济转型缓解就业压力。中国经济的升级(upgrading)也将为世界经济提供新的动力。

单选题 We all smile—but can you tell when someone else's smile is the real thing or just a fake? Child psychologists report that babies start smiling so early in life (often as early as three weeks) that this action is unlikely to have been picked up from parents. Apparently the act of wrinkling up the mouth functions as a vital survival mechanism: by making the baby appear attractive, a smile reduces the chance that it will be abandoned by the mother. While smiling may start as instinctive behavior, it is soon shaped by social situations. By the time we are four years old, it is no longer a sign of openly expressed pleasure. Instead, it can be produced artificially to please others. According to Dr. Roger Lamb of Oxford University, 'Conversational signals become habitual and just as automatic as emotional expressions. It is very difficult for an adult not to smile and nod his head when listening to someone's conversation.' The problems start when people of different ages, sexes and cultures try to smile encouragingly at each other, for although the basic expression is universally recognized, each social group develops its own system of conversational signals. A typical British 'wry smile', for example, involving raising one comer of the mouth and lowering the other, is likely to be incomprehensible to most other nationalities. The Japanese, too, set a rule unto themselves when it comes to facial expressions. Under transitional Japanese codes of behavior, negative emanations (发泄) such as anger, sadness and disgust should not be shown openly: as a result, people may end up giving a broad smile instead. Smiling practices may also differ dramatically between the sexes. Women, for instance, smile more than men. Again, this isn't because they are happier but simply because they are expected to appear pleasant: often they smile when they are actually feeling uncomfortable or tense. Men who smile a lot describe themselves as 'sociable'; women who do so describe themselves as 'feminine'. Whatever the reason, smiling people are considered more attractive than those who are stony-faced. This is why some children who fail to learn to smile properly and appropriately often find themselves outcast in the playground. In the United States, social skill programmers now concentrate on teaching unpopular children to smile with the required degree of warmth. The results are said to be highly successful.