单选题 Eating Our Young A. At Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences, a middle school in a poor neighborhood of Philadelphia, the school year began chaotically as budget cuts took effect. With the cuts meaning no school nurse or counselor, teachers fill the gaps, disrupting lessons to help students in distress. And the problems are not small: A boy was stabbed in the head with a pencil by a fellow student; a girl reported sexual assault by an uncle; another refused to speak after the brutal murder of a parent. And that was just the start of the school year. To make matters worse, budget cuts are hurting essential academic programs. B. Across the United States, whether it's schools, food stamps, health care or entry-level jobs, the young are feeling the force of government cutbacks. This year, the young and vulnerable especially have been hit hard through automatic federal spending cuts to programs like Head Start, nutrition assistance, and child welfare. Financial crises in cities like Philadelphia and Detroit have meant another wave of school budget cutbacks. And the weak job market is hurting the youngest workers most, with youth unemployment more than double the national jobless rate. C. This is not just an American problem. In Europe, too, rigid budgets are squeezing even basic education and health needs. As governments strain to cover budget shortfalls and appease (缓解) debt fears, the young are losing out. 'We're underinvesting in our children,' said Julia Isaacs, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and a child policy expert. 'Looking at future budget trends and the fact that Congress doesn't want to raise taxes, I can see children's programs continuing to be squeezed.' D. That has implications for long-term economic growth. Cutting back on the young is like eating the seed corn: satisfying a momentary need but leaving no way to grow a prosperous future. E. Is America overspending on its young? Public spending in the U.S. on children came to $12,164 per child in 2008, in current dollars, according to Kids' Share, an annual report published by the Urban Institute. Of that total, about a third came from the federal government and two thirds from state and local governments. Compare that to what we spend on the elderly, which primarily comes from the federal government. According to the Urban Institute, public spending on the elderly, in current dollars, was $27,117 per person in 2008, more than double the spending on children. F. The trend is the same across the developed world. Julia Lynch, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, studied 20 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development between 1985 and 2000 and found each spent more public funds on the elderly than on the young. But there were large differences among them. She found the most youth-oriented welfare states were the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and in Scandinavia, while the most elderly-oriented were Japan, Italy, Greece, the U.S., Spain, and Austria. Somewhere in the middle were Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Portugal. G. Since the 1960s, federal spending on kids in the U.S. had been rising. That trend ended in 2011, when it dropped by $2 billion to $377 billion. A year later the figure plunged even more—by $28 billion. And spending on kids is planned to shrink further over the next decade. The Urban Institute has forecast that federal spending on kids will decrease from 1O percent of the federal budget today to 8 percent by 2023. That decline will occur even as federal spending is expected to increase by $1 trillion over the same period. H. So, what is the federal government spending on? The budget can be roughly divided in the following way' 41 percent goes to the elderly and disabled portions of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; 20 percent to defense; 10 percent to children; 6 percent to interest payments on the debt; and 23 percent to all other government functions. So if spending on kids does fall to 8 percent of the federal budget, and if interest payments rise along with higher interest rates over the same period, the federal government soon will be spending more on interest payments on the debt than on children. I. What's driving government cutbacks? Much can be tied to fears of rising national debt. Paradoxically, advocates of debt reduction claim they are acting in the interest of the young; our debts seem be too heavy for the next generation. But in a supercompetitive global economy, nations investing today in the well-being and education of the young are writing the success stories of tomorrow. J. Of course, the U.S. is investing in education. Roughly 65 percent of all public spending on kids is on education, and that's done primarily through state and local governments. But whether it's early childhood education, elementary, middle, or high schools, or universities and colleges, fewer resources are going into public education. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of teachers employed in kindergarten through year 12th grade, principals, superintendents and support staff, fell 2 percent between 2009 and 2011 while enrollment was steady. K. The trend of putting fewer resources into public education is even more striking at the college level. Take the University of California for example: The average annual student charges for resident undergraduates have increased 275 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1990 to 1991, while the university's average per-student expenditures have decreased 25 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars over the same period. So as California students pay much more for their education than their parents did, they're getting less. L. Throughout the current downturn, unemployment has tailed the workforce. The hardest hit has been the young. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment for 16-to-24-year-olds in July was 16.3 percent. That compares with our national jobless rate of 7.3 percent. And there are also large numbers of the young who are underemployed. Gallup recently found that only 43.6 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 to 29 had a full-time job in June 2013. M. High youth unemployment has implications for future earnings power. Economists who study the labor market have found that people who graduate from school without a job are likely to have lower wages in their career. N. Even when the young land a job, investment in young workers isn't what it used to be. Training and education used to be part of any full-time job. Now, while global companies like Google advertise staff training, they tend to be the exception. Most companies have cut back over the years as corporate budgets are reduced and companies believe they can buy talent rather than grow it. O. Whether because of government cutbacks or falling business investment, the young are facing tougher prospects than did their parents. And that raises irritating questions about the future. Starting with the youngest, without solid nutrition and basic health care, children can't become engaged and active students. Without resources to teach and a secure support system, public schools can't turn out educated, smart kids. With the costs of college rising beyond the reach of many, large groups are being left behind. And with entry-level jobs and training scarcer than ever, the human capital necessary to grow America's huge economy isn't being developed. The burden on today's young to support an aging society will grow—even as the resources they are provided don't.

单选题 Economic inequality is the 'defining challenge of our time,' President Barack Obama declared in a speech last month to the Center for American Progress. Inequality is dangerous, he argued, not merely because it doesn't look good to have a large gap between the rich and the poor, but because inequality itself destroys upward mobility, making it harder for the poor to escape from poverty. 'Increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American Dream,' he said. Obama is only the most prominent public figure to declare inequality Public Enemy No. 1 and the greatest threat to reducing poverty in America. A number of prominent economists have also argued that it's harder for the poor to climb the economic ladder today because the rungs (横档) in that ladder have grown farther apart. For all the new attention devoted to the 1 percent, a new dataset from the Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard and Berkeley suggests that, if we care about upward mobility overall, we're vastly exaggerating the dangers of the rich-poor gap. Inequality itself is not a particularly strong predictor of economic mobility, as sociologist Scott Winship noted in a recent article based on his analysis of this data. So what factors, at the community level, do predict if poor children will move up the economic ladder as adults? What explains, for instance, why the Salt Lake City metro area is one of the 100 largest metropolitan areas most likely to lift the fortunes of the poor and the Atlanta metro area is one of the least likely? Harvard economist Raj Chetty has pointed to economic and racial segregation, community density, the size of a community's middle class, the quality of schools, community religiosity, and family structure, which he calls the 'single strongest correlate of upward mobility.' Chetty finds that communities like Salt Lake City, with high levels of two-parent families and religiosity, are much more likely to see poor children get ahead than communities like Atlanta, with high levels of racial and economic segregation. Chetty has not yet issued a comprehensive analysis of the relative predictive power of each of these factors. Based on my analyses of the data, of the factors that Chetty has highlighted, the following three seem to be most predictive of upward mobility in a given community. 1. Per-capita (人均) income growth 2. Prevalence of single mothers (where correlation is strong, but negative) 3. Per-capita local government spending In other words, communities with high levels of per-capita income growth, high percentages of two-parent families, and high local government spending—which may stand for good schools—are the most likely to help poor children relive Horatio Alger's rags-to-riches story.

单选题 My View on White Lies 1．有人认为生活中需要善意的谎言 2．有人认为任何形式的撒谎都是不对的行为 3．我的看法

单选题 Questions2-4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

单选题 We've all been there. You wake up in the middle of the night and grab your smartphone to check the time—it's 3 a. m.—and see an alert. Before you know it, you fall down a rabbit hole of e-mail and Twitter. Sleep? Forget it. Well, I've found a $7 solution: an old-fashioned alarm clock. My smartphone has been banished from the bedroom. 'It's a very slippery slope, once you've picked up your phone, to see what time it is, to checking your e-mail, to lying awake with anxiety,' said Dr. David M. Claman, director of the Sleep Disorders Centre at the University of California San Francisco Medical Centre. 'If you wake up in the middle of the night and check your phone, you will inevitably get frustrated and worried by something you've seen, leading your body to tense up.' Then it's game over. You're tossing and turning, thinking about an e-mail, a text or a meeting in six hours. All these sleep interruptions lead to work problems. A 2011 study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that insomnia costs $2280 in lost productivity per American worker every year. That adds up to $63 billion a year for the nation. The draw of the smartphone is understandable. The alarm clock is a free feature. It's also incredibly convenient—who doesn't like being able to speak to their phone and say, 'Wake me up at 7 a.m.'? Device makers are helping the trend along and hoping these figures rise. Most new alarm clocks made today are designed to be married to a smartphone. This goes against years of research showing that screens, in any capacity, do everything but help us fall asleep. In 2012, the American Medical Association's Council on Science and Public Health said that 'exposure to excessive light at night, including extended use of various electronic media, can disrupt sleep or exacerbate (使恶化) sleep disorders.' Sleep researchers say that looking at a blue light, which is produced by smartphone and tablet screens, sets off brain receptors that are designed to keep us awake and interferes with circadian (生理节奏的) sleep patterns. Experimental research has found that if people use a tablet for up to two hours before bed, it takes an extra hour to fall asleep. Orfeu M. Buxton, a neuroscientist and assistant professor in the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the phone in the bedroom could set off what he called 'threat alertness,' which is a type of anxiety that keeps you awake. 'This means that you're never off, you're always watchful, which is a hallmark to insomnia (失眠),' he said.

单选题Some performance evaluations require supervisors to take action. Employees who receive a very favorable evaluation may deserve some type of recognition or even a promotion. If supervisors do not acknowledge such outstanding performance, employees may either lose their 28 and reduce their effort or search for a new job at a firm that will 29 them for high performance. Supervisors should acknowledge high performance so that the employee will continue to perform well in the future. Employees who receive unfavorable evaluations must also be given attention. Supervisors must 30 the reasons for poor performance. Some reasons, such as a family illness, may have a temporary adverse 31 on performance and can be corrected. Other reasons, such as a bad attitude, may not be temporary. When supervisors give employees an unfavorable evaluation, they must decide whether to take any 32 actions. If the employees were unaware of their own deficiencies, the unfavorable evaluation can pinpoint (指出) the deficiencies that employees must correct. In this case, the supervisor may simply need to monitor the employees 33 and ensure that the deficiencies are corrected. If the employees were already aware of their deficiencies before the evaluation period, however, they may be unable or unwilling to correct them. This situation is more serious, and the supervisor may need to take action. The action should be 34 with the firm's guidelines and may include reassigning the employees to new jobs, 35 them temporarily, or firing them. A supervisor's action toward a poorly performing worker can 36 the attitudes of other employees. If no 37 is imposed on an employee for poor performance, other employees may react by reducing their productivity as well. A. additional B. affect C. aptly D. assimilate E. circulation F. closely G. consistent H. enthusiasm I. identify J. impact K. penalty L. reward M. simplifying N. suspending O. vulnerable

单选题Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteanessayentitledGlobalShortageofFreshWater.Youressayshouldstartwithabriefdescriptionofthetables.Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsbutnomorethan200words.2010年人均水资源量统计结果

单选题 While the 1970s pop psychotherapy movement focused on the importance of letting anger out, more recent research suggests that there's a smarter, healthier way to react to life's slings and arrows; with forgiveness. In a recent study, it was found that when individuals were about to forgive, they experienced greater joy, a more profound sense of control over life and less depression Sound appealing. a) Why holding a grudge (怨恨) can be harmful? Your boyfriend blows you off for an important date. If you stay angry at him, you'll probably get fresh flowers on your doorstep and maybe a fancy meal or two. But grudge-holding only gives us the illusion of power. If you hold on to that anger on a chronic basis, then it has power over you, eating away at your peace of mind and perhaps even your immune system. A study by Kathleen Lawler, Ph. D., a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee, confirms that people who are unable to forgive report more stress in their lives, more illness and more visits to the doctor than do forgiving folk. b) Going from a grudge to forgiveness A few ways to develop your capacity to turn the other cheek—Try writing a daily 'forgiveness' reminder in your journal; it may sound corny (过时的), but it's a great way to help gain control over your emotional life.—Write a letter to your offender, detailing exactly what's bothering you. Then toss it. You'll feel better, even if your message never reaches its intended target.—What, exactly, makes your blood boll? Forgiveness isn't about swallowing anger or being a doormat (逆来顺受的人). It's not about forgetting, either. On the contrary, it's about acknowledging an offence with your eyes wide open—and then releasing the anger. That means conjuring unempathy (不执著) toward the person who hurt you, then focusing on the good parts of your life. c) An act of courage Still not convinced that it's worth it to put your energies toward forgiving? Besides the benefits to your psyche and physical health, true forgiveness is a sign of strength and soulfulness. 'It takes a lot of moral muscle to forgive,' says Dr. Witvleit of Hope College in Michigan. The bottom line: Forgiving ultimately benefits the forgiver more than the person who has done wrong. So start putting your own well-being first, and live life with as much interest and love as you can.

单选题 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an acceptance speech. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words following the outline given below. 假设你在一次英语演讲竞赛中取胜，请发表一篇获奖感言，内容主要包括： 1．表达自己获奖的心情 2．表达对相关人士的感激以及获奖的意义

单选题 Questions16-18 are based on the recording you have just heard.

单选题Many of the aids which are advertised as liberating the modern woman tend to have the opposite effect, because they simply change the nature of work instead of eliminating it. Machines have a certain novelty value, like toys for adults. It is 27 less tiring to put clothes in a washing machine, but the time saved does not really 28 too much: the machine has to be watched, the clothes have to be carefully sorted first, stains 29 by hand, buttons pushed and water changed, clothes taken out, aired and ironed. It would be more liberating to pack it all off to a 30 and not necessarily more expensive, since no capital investment is required. Similarly, if you really want to save time you do not make cakes with an electric mixer, you buy one in a shop. If one compares the image of domesticated woman fostered by the women's magazines with the goods advertised by those periodicals, advertising which finances them, one realizes how useful a projected image can be in commerce. A careful 31 has to be struck: if you show a labor-saving gadget, follow it up with a 32 recipe on the next page; on no account hint at the notion that a woman could get herself a job, but instead foster her sense of her own usefulness, 33 the creative aspect of her function as a housewife. So we get cake mixes where the cook simply adds an egg herself, to produce 'that lovely home-baked 34 the family love', and knitting patterns that can be made by hand, or worse still, on knitting machines, which became a tremendous vogue when they were first 35 (difficult to know who would wear all those rapidly produced sweaters, which lacked the advantages of hand-made woolens). Automatic cookers are advertised by pictures of pretty young mothers taking their children to the park, not by 36 women presetting the dinner before catching a bus to the office. A. laundry B. exaggerate C. emphasize D. certainly E. indignant F. removed G. amount H. excessively I. complicated J. handled K. flavor L. professional M. introduced N. calculation O. balance