单选题Last month, 25 people died and 130 were injured in a train crash near Los Angeles. The cause was a cell phone. In three hours of work before the crash, one of the engineers received 28 text messages and sent 29 more. He sent his last message 22 seconds before impact, just after passing a signal that would have alerted him to the disaster ahead. Scientists call this 27 'inattention blindness'. The mind, captured by the world inside the phone, becomes blind to the world outside it. Millions of people move among us in this half-absent state. 28 , they're living in another world. In many ways, mobile phones are wonderful. Through the phone, you can 29 the confines of your environment. The problem is that physically, you're still living in that environment. Like other creatures, you've evolved to function in the natural world, one setting at a time. Nature has never tested a species' ability to function in two worlds at once. So how is this multitasking experiment going? Not so well. In the nationwide survey, 45 percent of Americans said they've been hit or nearly hit by a driver on a cell phone. Studies show that the more tasks you dump on drivers, the worse they 30 . Our performance on the two-worlds test, like all 31 experiments, can be measured in death. The Federal Railroad Administration reports seven cell-phone-related railway accidents in the last three years, five of them fatal. Today, we're so 32 to mobile devices that we rely on them even to translate the physical world. Misled by with Global Positioning System devices, people are driving cars into rivers, trees, and sand piles. Twice this year in Bedford Hills, N. Y. , drivers have caused train crashes by steering onto the track because their GPS mistook it for a road. Warning signs, pavement markings, and 33 train-signal masts failed to stop them. They trusted the dashboard (仪表盘), not the 34 . If we don't want this two-worlds experiment to be regulated nature's way, then we'd better regulate it ourselves. Here are a few 35 rules of the road. Multitasking is a glorious gift. We can't ban it, nor should we. Want to phone your spouse or your office while walking? Fine. The only life at stake is yours. Want to turn on your car radio or music player? Fine. Listening is easier than talking, and you can mentally or 36 shut it off when necessary. Want to chat with your passenger? Fine again. Studies indicate that passenger conversations are less distracting than phone calls, apparently because you're sharing the same environment. A. reflective B. evolutionary C. accident D. phenomenon E. physically F. confront G. escape H. assure I. mentally J. windshield K. perform L. primarily M. addicted N. compartment O. proposed

单选题 丽江古城 丽江古城(the Old Town of Lijiang)位于中国云南省丽江市，始建于南宋末年，至今已有八百多年的历史。丽江古城地处战略要地，古时候商旅活动频繁，是茶马古道(the Ancient Tea Horse Road)上的重镇。丽江古城没有城墙，古城内的建筑融合了多种文化元素，展现了汉族、白族、藏族以及纳西族的建筑特点。古城拥有古老的供水系统，至今仍有效地发挥着作用。水系(waterway)上有三百多座桥，均建于明清时期。现在，纳西族的传统文化东巴(Dongba)文化，如文字、绘画、舞蹈和音乐成为丽江古城旅游的焦点。

单选题 Now listen to the following recording and answer questions25-27.

单选题 Questions13-16 are based on the passage you have just heard.

单选题 唐诗(Chinese Tang poetry)泛指创作于唐代(618年—907年)的诗。唐诗是汉族最珍贵的文化遗产之一，同时也对周边民族和国家的文化发展产生了巨大影响。而流传最广的当属《唐诗三百首》(Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty)，里面收录的许多诗篇都为后人所熟知。唐代的诗人很多，其中李白、杜甫等都是世界闻名的伟大诗人，他们的作品有很多都是脍炙人口的诗篇。唐代诗歌的创作技巧多样，题材丰富，是我国诗歌发展的最高成就。

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 孔子学院 孔子学院(Confucius Institute)是中国国家对外汉语教学领导小组办公室在世界各地设立的旨在推广汉语和传播中国文化与国学(sinology)的教育和文化交流机构。其最重要的一项工作就是给世界各地的汉语学习者提供规范的现代汉语教材和最正规、最权威的汉语教学平台。孔子学院是一家非营利性的公共机构，总部设在北京，境外的孔子学院都是其分部。全球首家孔子学院于2004年11月21日在韩国首尔成立。迄今为止，全世界已经有超过300所孔子学院。

单选题 Now listen to the following recording and answer questions19-21.

单选题 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay entitled Live With a Goal by commenting on the saying 'The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.' You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

单选题 Questions6-9 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

单选题 昆曲 几百年来，昆曲在表演(staging)的通俗性上经历了种种波折，然而从未有人怀疑过它在戏剧领域享有的最高(supreme)地位。昆曲在其他形式的传统戏剧的创立中发挥了指导性的作用，并产生了一批致力于昆曲的追随者(devotee)。昆曲陶冶了中国古代文人的性情，这方面的作用是不可低估的。近年来，随着中国人的思维观念和生活方式发生了迅速而巨大的变化，昆曲的生存问题面临着巨大的挑战。然而在这个相对不利的环境中，昆曲仍保持着它古老的传统。

单选题 The American Workplace Is Broken. Here's How We Can Start Fixing It. A. Americans are working longer and harder hours than ever before. 83% of workers say they're stressed about their jobs, nearly 50% say work-related stress is interfering with their sleep, and 60% use their smartphones to check in with work outside of normal working hours. No wonder only 13% of employees worldwide feel engaged in their occupation. B. Glimmers (少许) of hope, however, are beginning to emerge in this bruising environment: Americans are becoming aware of the toll their jobs take on them, and employers are exploring ways to alleviate the harmful effects of stress and overwork. Yet much more work remains to be done. To call stress an epidemic isn't exaggeration. The 83% of American employees who are stressed about their jobs—up from 73% just a year before—say that poor compensation and an unreasonable workload are their number-one sources of stress. And if you suspected that the workplace had gotten more stressful than it was just a few decades ago, you're right. Stress levels increased 18% for women and 24% for men from 1983 to 2009. Stress is also starting earlier in life, with some data suggesting that today's teens are even more stressed than adults. C. Stress is taking a significant toll on our health, and the collective public health cost may be enormous. Occupational stress increases the risk of heart attack and diabetes, accelerates the aging process, decreases longevity, and contributes to depression and anxiety, among numerous other negative health outcomes. Overall, stress-related health problems account for up to 90% of hospital visits, many of them preventable. Your job is 'literally killing you,' as The Washington Post put it. It's also hurting our relationships. Working parents say they feel stressed, tired, rushed and short on quality time with their children, friends and partners. D. Seven in 10 workers say they struggle to maintain work-life balance. As technology (and with it, work emails) seeps (渗入) into every aspect of our lives, work-life balance has become an almost meaningless term. Add a rapidly changing economy and an uncertain future to this 24/7 connectivity, and you've got a recipe for overwork, according to Phyllis Moen. 'There's rising work demand coupled with the insecurity of mergers, takeovers, downsizing and other factors,' Moen said. 'Part of the work-life issue has to talk about uncertainty about the future.' E. These factors have converged to create an increasingly impossible situation with many employees overworking to the point of burnout. It's not only unsustainable for workers, but also for the companies that employ them. Science has shown a clear correlation between high stress levels in workers and absenteeism (旷工), reduced productivity, disengagement and high turnover. Too many workplace policies effectively prohibit employees from developing a healthy work-life balance by barring them from taking time off, even when they need it most. F. The U.S. trails far behind every wealthy nation and many developing ones that have family-friendly work policies including paid parental leave, paid sick days and breast-feeding support, according to a 2007 study. The U.S. is also the only advanced economy that does not guarantee workers paid vacation time, and it's one of only two countries in the world that does not offer guaranteed paid maternity leave. But even when employees are given paid time off, workplace norms and expectations that pressure them to overwork often prevent them from taking it. Full-time employees who do have paid vacation days only use half of them on average. G. Our modern workplaces also operate based on outdated time constraints. The practice of clocking in for an eight-hour workday is a leftover from the days of the Industrial Revolution, as reflected in the then-popular saying, 'Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.' H. We've held on to this workday structure—but thanks to our digital devices, many employees never really clock out. Today, the average American spends 8.8 hours at work daily, and the majority of working professionals spend additional hours checking in with work during evenings, weekends and even vacations. The problem isn't the technology itself, but that the technology is being used to create more flexibility for the employer rather than the employee. In a competitive work environment, employers are able to use technology to demand more from their employees rather than motivating workers with flexibility that benefits them. I. In a study published last year, psychologists coined the term 'workplace telepressure' to describe an employee's urge to immediately respond to emails and engage in obsessive thoughts about returning an email to one's boss, colleagues or clients. The researchers found that telepressure is a major cause of stress at work, which over time contributes to physical and mental burnout. Of the 300 employees participating in the study, those who experienced high levels of telepressure were more likely to agree with statements assessing burnout, like 'I've no energy for going to work in the morning,' and to report feeling fatigued and unfocused. Telepressure was also correlated with sleeping poorly and missing work. J. Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow explains that when people feel the pressure to be always 'on,' they find ways to accommodate that pressure, including altering their schedules, work habits and interactions with family and friends. Perlow calls this vicious cycle the 'cycle of responsiveness': Once bosses and colleagues experience an employee's increased responsiveness, they increase their demands on the employee's time. And because a failure to accept these increased demands indicates a lack of commitment to one's work, the employee complies. K. To address skyrocketing employee stress levels, many companies have implemented workplace wellness programs, partnering with health care providers that have created programs to promote employee health and well-being. Some research does suggest that these programs hold promise. A study of employees at health insurance provider Aetna revealed that roughly one quarter of those taking in-office yoga and mindfulness classes reported a 28% reduction in their stress levels and a 20% improvement in sleep quality. These less-stressed workers gained an average of 62 minutes per week of productivity. While yoga and meditation (静思) are scientifically proven to reduce stress levels, these programs do little to target the root causes of burnout and disengagement. The conditions creating the stress are long hours, unrealistic demands and deadlines, and work-life conflict. L. Moen and her colleagues may have found the solution. In a 2011 study, she investigated the effects of implementing a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) on the productivity and well-being of employees at Best Buy's corporate headquarters. M. For the study, 325 employees spent six months taking part in ROWE, while a control group of 334 employees continued with their normal workflow. The ROWE participants were allowed to freely determine when, where and how they worked—the only thing that mattered was that they got the job done. The results were striking. After six months, the employees who participated in ROWE reported reduced work-family conflict and a better sense of control of their time, and they were getting a full hour of extra sleep each night. The employees were less likely to leave their jobs, resulting in reduced turnover. It's important to note that the increased flexibility didn't encourage them to work around the clock. 'They didn't work anywhere and all the time—they were better able to manage their work,' Moen said. 'Flexibility and control is key,' she continued.

单选题 京剧(Peking Opera)已有200多年的历史，是中国的国剧。与其他地方戏相比，京剧享有更高的声誉，但其实京剧融合了多种地方戏的元素。京剧演员的脸谱(facial make-up)和戏服都很精美，相比之下布景则显得十分简单。表演者主要应用四种技能：唱(song)、念(speech)、做(dance)、打(combat)。京剧比较擅长于表现政治、军事斗争等历史题材。在古代，京剧大多是在户外演出的，因此演员们形成了一种极具穿透力的唱腔，以便每个人都能听到。