单选题After decades of decline, the share of mothers who stay home with their children has 29 risen over the last several years, a new report by the Pew Research Center has found. Pew 30 the rise of stay-at-home mothers to a mix of economic and societal factors. The 31 majority of married stay-at-home mothers, 85%, say they are doing so by choice in order to care for their families. That rate is much lower for single stay-at-home mothers, at 41%. The report also found a 32 in women working because of the recession, a trend that has 33 as the economy recovers. Pew cited an increase in immigrant families, for whom it is more 34 to have a mother stay at home with her children, and an increase in the number of women who said they were disabled and unable to work. A companion public opinion survey by Pew, from 2013, found that mothers are much more likely than fathers to have 35 work hours, take a significant amount of time off, quit a job or, by a small 36 turn down a promotion in order to care for a child or family member. A second Pew survey, taken this year, found most in the general public think that children are better off with a parent at home. 'This has important 37 for the day to day lives of children,' said D'Vera Cohn, the report's author. The report also looked at how stay-at-home versus working moms use their time. Those at home spend more time on housework, child care, 38 and sleep. A. reduced E. interim I. leisure M. abnormally B. impetus F. steadily J. drop N. attributed C. vast G. common K. intuitions O. margin D. implications H. cling L. lingered

单选题 中国人春节张贴门神(door gods)像是一项重要的风俗。门神像就是张贴在屋内屋外门上的神灵的画像。人们希望它们能驱鬼，保护家人，带来平安和吉祥。胖娃娃的图画通常被认为是屋内的门神，意味着好运、长寿和人丁兴旺。大门的门神有几种不同的形式，最早的门神是神荼(Shen Shu)和郁垒。如今，最常见的门神是元朝时期流行起来的秦叔宝和尉迟恭(Yuchi Gong)。秦叔宝皮肤煞白，常常佩剑；而尉迟恭皮肤黝黑，常常佩棍。他们总是成对地出现。

单选题The number of people who surf the Internet via mobile devices in China has for the first time 29 the number using computers to go online, an industry report said on Monday. The number increased by 14.42 million over the past six months, so that now 83.4 percent of China's Internet surfers are using mobile phones to go online, according to the report 30 by the China Internet Network Information Centre, a government-backed industry administrative body. The total number of Chinese netizens was 632 million by the end of June, 527 million of whom 31 onto the World Wide Web through their smartphones, the report said. It is the first time that the number of mobile Internet users has surpassed that of those surfing the Web in 32 ways, such as with personal computers and laptops, said Liu Bing, deputy director with the CINIC. 'In other words, the mobile phone can be 33 as the key terminal device for Chinese to get online,' he said. As the mobile network has taken the lead in the country's Internet development, its status has also become 34 among netizens, he said. The increasing number of smartphone owners has driven a rapid rise in e-commerce, instant messaging and entertainment applications, 'which reflects a 35 demand of netizens', he said. According to the report, the number of users who use mobile phones to make 36 has increased 63.4 percent from January to June, with the growth of payment apps likewise surging in that period. 'The mobile payment is becoming much closer with consumers and it has been making greater 37 to e-commerce development,' Liu said. Yin Jingxue, a mobile Internet analyst, confirmed that mobile devices have played the more 38 role in Web development in the country. A. traditional B. firmer C. obstacles D. logged E. contributions F. advanced G. important H. diverse I. changeable J. issued K. lagged L. regarded M. exceeded N. surfed O. payments

单选题 Questions13-15 are based on the passage you have just heard.

单选题If you're one of those people who tends to put on weight around your middle, what doctors call an 'apple shape'—what the rest of us call a beer belly—you've probably been told that you're at higher risk of heart disease. But one large new review study suggests you shouldn't be too 25 after all. It turns out that the apple-shaped among us are not at any higher risk of heart trouble as people with pear shapes or any other kind of fat 26 . In the latest study, researchers at the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration in the UK reviewed records of more than 220000 participants in 58 different trials that followed 27 for more than 10 years for heart-related events. They found that body shape, or fat distribution, did not seem to affect heart disease risk. In fact, the researchers write in the journal Lancet, various measures of obesity, including body mass index (or BMI, a combined measure of height and weight), waist circumference (周长) and waist-to-hip ratio, all had about the same 28 value in identifying increased risk of a heart attack. What's more, 29 to the forecasting power of known risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a history of diabetes, the obesity measures added very little to the 30 of risk assessment. Previous studies had focused not just on overweight, but on the type and 31 of fat deposits as a red flag for heart disease. The thinking was that even without blood tests for cholesterol or blood pressure, body shape alone could alert doctors and patients to the fact that patients might be at higher risk of heart problems. One headline-grabbing survey reported a three-fold 32 risk in heart disease among those with abdominal fat—folks with apple-shaped bodies—and speculated that visceral (内脏的) fat, which tends to 33 around the middle, is particularly hazardous for the heart, since it nestles deep within organs and can pump out hormones that 34 insulin (胰岛素) sensitivity and promote diabetes. A. accumulate B. accuracy C. alter D. compared E. conflicted F. decreased G. discouraged H. distinguished I. distribution J. diversion K. elevating L. increased M. location N. predictive O. volunteers

单选题 When it comes to the environment, aviation has a rather dirty reputation. The industry produced 689 million tons of CO2 in 2012, according to Air Transport Action Group and this number is sure to grow as global demand for flight continues to skyrocket. 'Aviation will double in size worldwide in the next two decades, and if we're not able to provide a sustainable means to fly, we will create a ceiling for growth in the industry,' says Ignaas Caryn, director of innovation at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. As a result, it looks like the aviation industry being ready to green up its game. In January, Boeing announced a new initiative to build a biofuel supply chain in the United Arab Emirates, as well as research it's conducting into biofuels made from salt water-consuming desert plants. To name just a few partnerships, the airplane manufacturer teamed with Virgin Australia Airlines is to produce sustainable aviation fuels from special trees in Australia. Airbus has also joined other aerospace companies in launching the ITAKA initiative, a collaborative project funded by the European Union to produce and test the use of sustainable jet fuel. Frederic Eychenne, Airbus' head of new energies, notes that no single crop will do the job for biofuels, and that to achieve true sustainability, biofuel—like food—is best when it's locally-sourced. 'Different countries grow different crops. They have different refineries in place. Sustainability isn't just about reducing emissions in the air. We have to consider the whole life-cycle in terms of production,' he notes. The main barrier to use biofuel on a larger scale, says Caryn, is the price. 'Today, bio jet fuel is still three to four times more expensive than fossil fuel, because there's no continuous production. There's a demonstrated hole in the value chain,' he notes. To solve the problem, in 2010 KLM became a joint founder of SkyNRG—a major supplier of eco-efficient jet fuel. 'We believed the development of bio jet fuel was important, and that we couldn't keep it within the boundaries of KLM, so we decided to come up with a new company. In the last five years, SkyNRG have supplied approximately 25 airlines,' he says. SkyNRG is also working with airlines and airports around the world to create bioports—or supply chains of sustainable jet fuel—in a bid to ultimately bring down the price. 'With an increase volume, we could see price parity within the next ten years,' says Caryn.

单选题 The Health Benefits of Drinking Water —Is Bottled Drinking Water Healthier Than Filtered Tap Water? A. Water is a key ingredient in a healthy diet and lifestyle. There are many health benefits of drinking water. It helps flush impurities and toxins out of our systems. It aids in the delivery of oxygen and nutrients. In fact, nearly every system in our bodies relies on water for proper functioning. But what will happen if the water you drink is unhealthy? B. In past decades, concerns about tap water and its impact on overall health led some people to turn to bottled drinking water instead. However, in those days, there were few choices of bottled waters. You could pay to have a company deliver large bulky plastic bottles of water for the water cooler. Or you could purchase gallon jugs of distilled or 'drinking water' at the grocery store. C. In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of different bottled waters available, with big distributors such as Coke and Pepsi jumping on the bandwagon. But are bottled drinking waters like Coke's Dasani brand, Pepsi's Aquafina, or Wal-Mart's store brand really any healthier than your tap water? Or would you be better off with a drinking water filtration system? D. As we have learned more about the water we drink, the technology behind drinking water filters and purification systems has improved dramatically. There are filters to remove impurities, chemicals, heavy metals, bacteria and most every contaminant you can think of. With the fight size and filter combination for your specific home, your water can be exceptionally pure and healthy. Cost Comparison E. Drinking water filtration systems have also become more affordable and easy to use. Although the initial cost of a whole house system usually amounts to several hundred dollars, that cost is often less than $100 each year if spread out over the life of the system. There may be additional expenses to replace carbon filters, membranes in reverse osmosis drinking water filtration system, or lamps in an ultraviolet light water treatment device. These expenses can add another $100 or so to the annual costs of operating drinking water filters and purification systems. F. While some people may hesitate to spend so much each year for clean, safe drinking water, they are probably paying more for bottled drinking water. Calculations show that at a price of $1 to $4 per gallon, bottled or delivered water costs an average of $400 each year, especially if you purchase individual bottles. And that doesn't take into consideration the gas needed to drive to the store or the environmental impact of all the empty plastic bottles. Health Aspects G. Many people who choose bottled drinking water understand that it is more expensive, but they are still willing to pay the extra money because bottled water is thought to be safer and healthier than filtered drinking water. After all, bottled water is often marketed as 'natural spring water' or 'pure glacier water.' H. In reality, few bottled waters come from natural springs, and most of them use municipal tap water. The companies are able to get away with this false marketing because the regulations and standards for bottle drinking water are less stringent than those for residential drinking sources. I. The quality of bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while drinking water systems are typically regulated by State regulations or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This doesn't mean that the FDA isn't doing their job. It's just that the rules for bottled water only require it to be as good as tap water, not better. J. In addition, the FDA regulations only apply to bottled drinking water that is transported across state lines. If a company sells their bottled drinking water in the same state where it was bottled, the federal regulations don't apply. The result is that many bottled waters are not any healthier than filtered water, and in fact some are less pure. K. This was demonstrated in a study which was conducted in 1999 by the Natural Resources Defense Council. They tested over 100 brands of bottled drinking water and found that about one third of the waters contained contamination in the form of chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. The study also found that up to forty percent of bottled drinking waters come from a city water system. How to Tell if Your Water Is Healthy L. So how do you tell if the water you are drinking is healthy? With tap water, it is relatively easy. If you water comes from a municipal source, the suppliers are required by law to provide annual water quality reports. If you have a well, you can have an authorized lab test your water. It may cost $100 or more, but it's a small price to pay for peace of mind. Or you can purchase a kit and test it yourself, but naturally the results may not be as conclusive or reliable as those produced by authorized labs. M. When it comes to bottled drinking water, it can be more difficult to know what you are getting. Start by checking the label or the bottle cap. Some may tell you that the water comes from a municipal source or 'community water system', which means tap water. N. If the label doesn't give any information, you can call the bottler and ask. But don't be surprised if you get the run around and are transferred to several different departments. Some states have a bottled water program that tracks bottled drinking water and can tell you the origin of the source water as well as other information. O. Safe and healthy drinking water has become big business. Thousands of companies are vying for your hard earned cash, and some are not always honest about what their products offer. The initial investment for a home drinking water filtration system can seem expensive at first, but over time, it is usually less expensive than bottled drinking water. And with a water filter, you at least know where the water you drink came from and how it was treated. P. Before going out and spending your hard earned money for bottled drinking water that may, be no better than your own tap water, it is obviously a good idea to do some research. You are likely to decide that a drinking water filtration system and/or purifier is the healthier choice and provides the best value as well.

单选题 Now listen to the following recording and answer questions20-22.

单选题 What If Middle-Class Jobs Disappear? [A] The most recent recession in the United States began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. However, two years after the official end of the recession, few Americans would say that economic troubles are behind us. The unemployment rate, in particular, remains above 9%. Some labor market indicators, such as the proportion of long-term unemployed, are worse now than for any postwar recession. [B] There are two widely circulated narratives to explain what's going on. The Keynesian narrative is that there has been a major drop in aggregate demand. According to this narrative, the slump can be largely cured by using monetary and fiscal(财政的) stimulus. The main anti-Keynesian narrative is that businesses are suffering from uncertainty and over-regulation. According to this narrative, the slump can be cured by having the government commit to and follow a more hands-off approach. [C] I want to suggest a third interpretation. Without ruling out a role for aggregate demand or for the regulatory environment, I wish to suggest that structural change is an important factor in the current rate of high unemployment. The economy is in a state of transition, in which the middle-class jobs that emerged after World War II have begun to decline. As Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee put it in a recent e-book Race Against the Machine: 'The root of our problems is not that we're in a great recession, or a great stagnation(停滞), but rather that we are in the early throes(阵痛) of a great restructuring.' [D] In fact, I believe the Great Depression of the 1930s can also be interpreted in part as an economic transition. The impact of the internal combustion engine (内燃机) and the small electric motor on farming and manufacturing reduced the value of uneducated laborers. Instead, by the 1950s, a middle class of largely clerical(从事文秘工作的) workers was the most significant part of the labor force. Between 1930 and 1950, the United States economy underwent a great transition. Demand fell for human effort such as lifting, squeezing, and hammering. Demand increased for workers who could read and follow directions. The evolutionary process eventually changed us from a nation of laborers to a nation of clerks. [E] The proportion of employment classified as 'clerical workers' grew from 5.2% in 1910 to a peak of 19.3% in 1980. (However, by 2000 this proportion had edged down to 17.4%.) Overall, workers classified as clerical workers, technical workers, managers and officials exceeded 50% of the labor force by 2000. Corresponding declines took place in the manual occupations. Workers classified as laborers, other than farm hands or miners, peaked at 11.4% of the labor force in 1920 but were barely 6% by 1950 and less than 4% by 2000. Farmers and farm laborers fell from 33% of the labor force in 1910 to less than 15% by 1950 and only 1.2% in 2000. [F] The introduction of the tractor and improvements in the factory rapidly reduced the demand for uneducated workers. By the 1930s, a marginal farm hand could not produce enough to justify his employment. Sharecropping, never much better than a subsistence occupation, was no longer viable(可行的). Meanwhile, machines were replacing manufacturing occupations like cigar rolling and glass blowing for light bulbs. [G] The structural-transition interpretation of the unemployment problem of the 1930s would be that the demand for uneducated workers in the United States had fallen, but the supply remained high. The high school graduation rate was only 8.8% in 1912 and still just 29% in 1931. By 1950, it had reached 59%. With a new generation of workers who had completed high school, the mismatch between skills and jobs had been greatly reduced. [H] What took place after World War II was not the revival of a 1920s economy, with its small farming units, urban manufacturing, and plurality of laborers. Instead, the 1950s saw the creation of a new suburban economy, with a plurality of white-collar workers. With an expanded transportation and communications infrastructure(基础设), businesses needed telephone operators, shipping clerks and similar occupations. If you could read, follow simple instructions, and settle into a routine, you could find a job in the post-war economy. [I] The trend away from manual labor has continued. Even within the manufacturing sector, the share of production and non-supervisory workers in manufacturing employment went from over 85% just after World War II to less than 70% in more recent years. To put this another way, the proportion of white-collar work in manufacturing has doubled over the past 50 years. On the factory floor itself, work has become less physically demanding. Instead, it requires more cognitive skills and the ability to understand and carry out well-defined procedures. [J] As noted earlier, the proportion of clerical workers in the economy peaked in 1980. By that date, computers and advanced communications equipment had already begun to affect telephone operations and banking. The rise of the personal computer and the Internet has widened the impact of these technologies to include nearly every business and industry. [K] The economy today differs from that of a generation ago. Mortgage and consumer loan underwriters(风险评估人) have been replaced by credit scoring. Record stores have been replaced by music downloads. Book stores are closing, while sales of books on electronic readers have increased. Data entry has been moved off shore. Routine customer support also has been outsourced(外包) overseas. [L] These trends serve to limit the availability of well-defined jobs. If a job can be characterized by a precise set of instructions, then that job is a candidate to be automated or outsourced to modestly educated workers in developing countries. The result is what David Autor calls the polarization of the American job market. [M] Using the latest Census Bureau data, Matthew Slaughter found that from 2000 to 2010 the real earnings of college graduates (with no advanced degree) fell by more in percentage terms than the earnings of high school graduates. In fact, over this period the only education category to show an increase in earnings was those with advanced degrees. [N] The outlook for mid-skill jobs would not appear to be bright. Communications technology and computer intelligence continue to improve, putting more occupations at risk. For example, many people earn a living as drivers, including trucks and taxicabs. However, the age of driverless vehicles appears to be moving closer. Another example is in the field of education. In the fall of 2011, an experiment with an online course in artificial intelligence conducted by two Stanford professors drew tens of thousands of registrants(报名者). This increases the student-teacher ratio by a factor of close to a thousand. Imagine the number of teaching jobs that might be eliminated if this could be done for math, economics, chemistry, and so on. [O] It's important to bear in mind that when we offer a structural interpretation of unemployment, a 'loss of jobs' means an increase in productivity. Traditionally, economists have argued that productivity increases are a good thing, even though they may cause unemployment for some workers in the short run. In the long run, the economy does not run out of jobs. Rather, new jobs emerge as old jobs disappear. The story we tell is that average well-being rises, and the more people are able to adapt, the more widespread the improvement becomes.

单选题 Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to laugh. In a universe which appears to be utterly deficient of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem to serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divided world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological clans and political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: a sense of humor. Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. This can best be seen from the world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplin's early films. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel Johnson, once remarked, 'Men have been wise in very different modes but they have always laughed in the same way.' A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from refined tinkle (清脆的声响) to an earth quaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics (狂热者) appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get one-sided view of things.' This is one of the chief functions of satire (讽刺) and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war, political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of serious political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about war in Gulliver's Travels. The Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they can't agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we are meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. The sense of humor must be singled out as man's most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative—these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key.

单选题Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteanessaybasedonthepicturebelow.Youshouldstartyouressaywithabriefdescriptionofthepictureandthendiscussthechangesinlifestylecausedbytheadvancesoftechnologies.Youshouldgivesoundargumentstosupportyourviewsandwriteatleast150wordsbutnomorethan200words.

单选题 Questions19-21 are based on the recording you have just heard.

单选题The tree people in the Lord of the Rings—the Ents—can get around by walking. But for real trees, it's harder to uproot. Because they're literally rooted into the ground, they are unable to leave and go 24 . When a tree first starts growing in a certain area, it's likely that the 25 envelope—the temperature, humidity, rainfall patterns and so on—suits it. Otherwise, it would be unable to grow from a seedling. But as it 26 , these conditions may change and the area around it may no longer be suitable for its 27 . When that happens, many trees like walnuts, oaks and pines, rely 28 on so-called 'scatter hoarders,' such as birds, to move their seeds to new localities. Many birds like to store food for the winter, which they 29 retrieve. When the birds forget to retrieve their food—and they do sometimes—a seedling has a chance to grow. The bird Clark's nutcracker, for example, hides up to 100,000 seeds per year, up to 30 kilometers away from the seed source, and has a very close symbiotic (共生的) relationship with several pine species, most 30 the whitebark pine. As trees outgrow their ideal 31 in the face of climate change, these flying ecosystem engineers could be a big help in 32 trees. It's a solution for us—getting birds to do the work is cheap and effective—and it could give 33 oaks and pines the option to truly 'make like a tree and leave.' A. ages I. legacy B. breathing J. notably C. climatic K. offspring D. elsewhere L. replanting E. exclusively M. subsequently F. forever N. vulnerable G. fruitful O. withdraws H. habitats