{{B}}PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION{{/B}}

Too much electric current may flow into a circuit as a result either of a fault in the circuit and of an outside event such as lightning.

(1)It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." My first personal experience of this was when I worked as a camp counselor for two months in 1993 in Summer Camp run by the Boy Scouts of America, as part of an international leader exchange scheme. Before I went, all the participants in the scheme were given a short list of words that are in common use in the UK which Americans would either be confused by or would even offend them. I memorized the words and thought "I'll cope". (2)When*" I finally arrived in the States three months later, I realized that perhaps a lifetime of watching American television was not adequate preparation for appreciating and coping with the differences between American and British speech. In the first hour of arriving at the camp I was exposed to High School American English, Black American English and American English spoken by Joe Public, all very different to each other. Needless to say, I did cope in the end. The Americans I met were very welcoming and helpful, and I found they were patient with me when I made a social faux pas when I used an inappropriate word or phrase. (3)Upon my return I began to wonder whether anyone had documented the differences between American and British English. I found several books on the subject but often these were written in a dry and a-cademic way. I felt that I could do better and use my sense of humor and personal experiences to help people from both sides of Atlantic to communicate more effectively when they meet. (4)My research into the subject led me to several conclusions. (5)Firstly, American English and 6ritish English are converging thanks to increased transatlantic travel and the media. The movement of slang words is mostly eastwards, though a few words from the UK have been adopted by the Ivy League fraternities. This convergent trend is a recent one dating from the emergence of Hollywood as the predominant film making center in the world and also from the Second World War when large numbers of American GIs were stationed in the UK. This trend was consolidated by the advent of television. Before then, it was thought that American English and British English would diverge as the two languages evolved and absorbed words brought to their respective countries by immigrants and their colonies. (6)In 1789, Noah Webster, in whose name American dictionaries are still published in to this day, stated that: "Numerous local causes, such as a new country, new associations of people, new combinations of ideas in the arts and some intercourse with tribes wholly unknown in Europe will introduce new words into the American tongue." He was right, but his next statement has since been proved to be incorrect. "These causes will produce in the course of time a language in North America as different from the future language of England as the modern Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from the German or from one another." (7)Webster had underrated the amount of social intercourse between England and her former colony. Even before Webster had started to compile his dictionary, words and expressions from the America had already infiltrated the British language, for example "canoe" and "hatchet". Very few people in Britain realise how many of the words they use are of American origin. Often this importation of American words has encountered a linguistic snobbery by the British, which was a manifestation of the cultural snobbery that bedevilled Anglo-American relationships for a long time. This is not, thankfully, the case now. (8)Secondly, there are some generalizations that can be made about American and British English which can reveal the nature of the two nations and their peoples. British speech tends to be less general, and directed more, in nuances of meaning, at a sub group of the population. This can become a kind of code, in which few words are spoken because each, along with its attendant murmurings and pauses, carries a wealth of shared assumptions and attitudes. In other words, the British are preoccupied with their social status within society and speak and act accordingly to fit into the social class they aspire to. This is particularly evident when talking to someone from "the middle class" when he points out that he is "upper middle class" rather than "middle class" or "lower middle class". John Major (the former UK Prime Minister)may have said that we are now living in a "classless society" but the class system still prevails. At that moment both he and the Leader of the Opposition were talking about capturing the "middle England", "middle class vote" as the key to winning the next general election. (9)American speech tends to be influenced by the over-heated language of much of the media, which is designed to attach an impression of exciting activity to passive, if sometimes insignificant events. Yet, curiously, really violent activity and life-changing events are hidden in blind antiseptic tones that serve to disguise the reality. Two examples come readily to mind—the US Military with their "friendly fire" and "collateral damages" and the business world with their "downsizing". British people tend to understatement whereas Americans towards hyperbole. A Briton might respond to a suggestion with a word such as "Terrific! " only if he is expressing rapturous enthusiasm, whereas an American might use the word merely to signify polite assent. (10)Thirdly, The American language has less regard than the British for grammatical form, and will happily bulldoze its way across distinctions rather than steer a path between them. American English will casually use one form of a word for another, for example turning nouns into verbs or verbs and nouns into adjectives. In Britain, a disrespect for grammatical rules, particularly amongst the middle classes, would immediately reveal you to be "not one of us". Listening to listener feedback programmes on Radio 4 (one of the radio stations run by BBC)would reveal this. People actually write into complain about grammatical mistakes made by news presenters!

Now, the second characteristic of active learners is to reflect on information and【T1】______. Being reflective is an important part of active learning because it means that you are【T2】______. In other words, you are【T3】______. For instance, you may make connections between the new information and【T4】______, identify concepts that you may not understand very well or evaluate the importance of what you are reading. An active learner【T5】______ in this way. In contrast, passive learners may【T6】______ and listen to lectures and even understand most of what is read and heard, but they do not take that crucial next step of actually thinking about it.

美术工作者大都喜欢桥，我每到一地总要寻桥。桥，多么美! “小桥流水人家”，同然具诗境之美，其实更偏于绘画的形式美：人家房屋，那是块面；流水，那是长线、曲线，线与块面组成了对比美；桥与流水相交，更富有形式上的变化，同时也是线与面之间的媒介，它是沟通线、面间形式转变的桥！如果煞它风景，将江南水乡或威尼斯的石桥拆尽，虽然绿水依旧绕人家，但彻底摧毁工画家眼中的结构美，摧毁了形式美。

Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified arelative threat to children's health that isn't as easy to get rid of:【M1】______third-hand smoke. That's the term being used to describe theinvisible yet toxic mixture of gas and particles clinging to【M2】______smokers' hair and clothing, not mention cushions and carpeting,【M3】______that linger long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room.【M4】______The reminder includes heavy metals and radioactive materials that【M5】______young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they're crawling or playing on the floor. Doctors from MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston coined the term "third-hand smoke" to describe these chemicals in a new study that focused on the risks they pose to infants andchildren. The study was published in latest issue of the journal【M6】______Pediatrics. "Everyone knows that second-hand smoke is bad, but they don't know about this," said Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, theleaded author of the study and an assistant professor of【M7】______pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. "When your kids are out of【M8】______the house, they might smoke. Or they smoke in the car. Or they strap the kid in the car seat in the back and crack the window andsmoke, and they think it's okay so the second-hand smoke isn't【M9】______getting to their kids," Dr. Winickoff continued. "We needed a termto describe these tobacco toxins that aren't invisible."【M10】______

The word conservation has a thrifty meaning. To conserve is to save andprotect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such good condition as others 【S1】 1may also share the enjoyment. Our forefathers had no idea that human populationwould increase faster than the supplies of crude materials. Most of them, even 【S2】 2until very recently, have the foolish idea that the treasures were "limitless"and "inexhaustible". Most of the citizens of early generations knew little or【S3】 3nothing about the complicated and the delicate system that runs all through thenature, which means that, as in a life body, an unhealthy condition of one part 【S4】 4will sooner or later be harmful to all others. 【S5】 5 Fifty years ago nature study was not part of the school work. Scientific 【S6】 6forestry was a new idea: timber was still cheap at that time because it could be brought in any quantity from distant woodlands: soil destruction and river floodswere not national problems: nobody had already studied long-term climate cycles 【S7】 7in relation with proper land use: even the word conservation had nothing of the 【S8】 8meaning that it has for us today. For the sake of ourselves and those who come after us, we must now set about 【S9】 9repairing the mistakes of our forefathers. Conservation should, however, be made 【S10】 10a part of everyone's daily life. To know about the water table in the ground is just as important to us as a knowledge of the basic arithmetic formulas. 【S1】

HomeschoolingI.【T1】_____【T1】______— Require【T2】_____【T2】______— Child who gets easily frustrated is difficult to be homeschooled II. Time— Require【T3】_____ of at least one parent【T3】______— Children can't be left alone— Personal sacrificeIII. Flexible scheduling— Change the【T4】_____ or lesson time if you need【T4】______— Good for gifted children:【T5】_____ in the interesting topics【T5】______IV. Academic interests— Work on【T6】_____【T6】______— Favourite subject in depth—【T7】_____ among subject lessons【T7】______V. Socialization— Socialization is not unique to school— Possible socialization involvementa)【T8】_____【T8】______b)【T9】_____【T9】______c)Homeschooling co-opsVI.【T10】_____【T10】______— Different regulation/lawsa)Submit curriculum and lesson plansb)Parents'【T11】_____ is sufficient【T11】______c)Between both of the aboveVII. Resources— Find help from a local homeschooling group—【T12】_____【T12】______a)High-schoolersb)Graduate and undergraduate studentsVIII. Finances— Sacrifice one source of income— Join a co-op, where【T13】_____ are shared【T13】______IX. Household organization—【T14】_____ might be delayed【T14】______— House might get【T15】_____【T15】______X. Parents' agreement— Important: both of parents agree with the arrangement

PASSAGE TWO

French CultureFrench culture has been known for the resilience of its people and aesthetic sense in cinema, cuisine and fashion. There are seven aspects of French culture that can give people a taste of it. I. Cultural Identity A(n)【T1】_____ of diverse cultures【T1】______ Unique appeal: ethnicity, geography and the French language Historical influence: the Franco-Prussian feud, WWI and WWII 【T2】_____: Chauvinism【T2】______II. Customs and Traditions Regional differences: linguistic tradition,【T3】_____, fashion, etc.【T3】______ Renaissance:A【T4】_____: broad-mindedness【T4】______B. Family structure: nuclear family Cultural policies: preservation of French【T5】______【T5】______A. Secular and non-secular educational institutionsB. National museumsC.【T6】_____.【T6】______III. Language and Religion Language:A Follows a predetermined official "【T7】_____" standard【T7】______B. Widely spoken across the globe Religion:A. SecularB. Principle of "【T8】_____"【T8】______IV. Cuisine Haute cuisine Vital components:【T9】_____and wine【T9】______ Distinctive components: croissants and fruit yogurt Wines: Bordeaux,【T10】_____ and Bourgogne French wines【T10】______V. Sport National sport【T11】_____【T11】______ Popular sports: basketball, tennis and sailing Tour de France Grand Slam French Open Grand Prix racing, fencing, etc.VI. Fashion Dedicated couturier houses, fashion shows and dedicated media like "Elle" History:A. 1960s: youngsters criticized and【T12】_____ high fashion【T12】______B. 1966: mass【T13】_____【T13】______C. Post-1968: "hippy" lookD. 1970s and 80s: new trends establishedE. 1990s: French couture houses were【T14】_____【T14】______under luxury giants and multinationalsVII. Art Painting:A The Lascaux cave paintingsB. Nicolas Poussin, etc.: Immortalized【T15】_____ and French culture【T15】______ Music: folk, Latin American, hip hop, rock and techno-funk genres

(1)A period of climate change about 130,000 years ago would have made water travel easier by lowering sea levels and creating navigable lakes and rivers in the Arabian Peninsula, the study says. Such a shift would have offered early modern humans—which arose in Africa about 200,000 years ago—a new route through the formerly scorching northern deserts into the Middle East. The new paper was spurred by the discovery of several 120,000-year-old tools at a desert archaeological site in the United Arab Emirates. The presence of the tools—whose design is uniquely African, experts say—so early in the region suggests early humans marched out of Africa into the Arabian Peninsula directly from the Horn of Africa, roughly present-day Somalia. Previously, scientists had thought humans first left via the Nile Valley or the Far East. (2)"Up till now we thought of cultural developments leading to the opportunity of people to move out of Africa," said study co-author Hans-Peter Uerpmann, a retired archaeobiologist at the University of Tubingen in Germany. "Now we see, I think, that it was the environment that was the key to this," Uerpmann said during a press briefing Wednesday. (3)The discovery "leaves a lot of possibilities for human migrations, and keeping this in mind, might change our view completely." During the past few years, a series of tools were discovered at the Jebel Faya site in the U.A.E., some of which—such as hand axes—had a two-sided appearance previously seen only in early Africa (4)Scientists used luminescence dating to determine the age of sand grains buried with the stone tools. This technique measures naturally occurring radiation stored in the sand. For the climatic data, scientists studied the climate records of ancient lakes and rivers in cave stalagmites, as well as changes in the level of the Red Sea. This warmer period 130,000 years or so ago caused more rainfall on the Arabian Peninsula, turning it into a series of lush rivers that humans might have boated or rafted. (5)During this period the southern Red Sea's levels dropped, offering a "brief window of time" for humans to easily cross the sea—which was then as little as 2.5 miles wide, according to Adrian Parker, a physical geographer from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom. (6)Once humans entered the peninsula, they dispersed and likely reached the Jebel Faya site by about 125,000 years ago, according to the study, published in the journal Science. (7)Geneticist Spencer Wells called the discovery a "very interesting find," especially because the Arabian Peninsula is becoming a hot spot for archaeological finds—particularly underwater, since the Persian Gulf was a fertile river delta during early human migrations. But he noted that the study doesn't "rewrite the book on what we know about human migratory history." That's because tools dating to the same period have already been found in Israel, so it's "consistent with what we suspected" about an earlier wave of migration into the Middle East, said Wells, director of the National Geographic Society's Geographic Project. Wells also noted there's no evidence yet that the migrants in the new paper were our ancestors—the group, and their genes, may have died out long ago. (8)Bence Viola, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, agreed the finding was interesting but not that surprising, also citing the evidence of humans in Israel about 120,000 years ago. Viola, who wasn't involved in the study, added that the migration route proposed in the paper makes sense on another level—the Arabian Peninsula would have been something early humans were used to. "If you look even today, the environment in the Horn of Africa, in Somalia or northern Ethiopia, is similar to what you see in Oman or Yemen—not like the big desert," Viola noted. "It's not like they needed to adapt to a completely different environment—it's an environment that they knew." (9)Why they made the trek is another question, since they wouldn't have been hurting for food or resources in their African homeland, Viola noted. "Curiosity," he said, "is a pretty human desire."

当我在小学毕了业的时候，亲友一致的愿意我去学手艺，好帮助母亲。我晓得我应当去找饭吃，以减轻母亲的勤劳困苦。 可是，我也愿意升学。我偷偷地考入了师范学校——制服，饭食，书籍，宿处，都由学校供给。只有这样，我才敢对母亲提升学的话。入学，要交十元的保证会。这是一笔巨款!母亲作了半个月的难，把这巨款筹到，而后含泪把我送出门去。她不辞劳苦，只要儿子有出息。当我由师范毕业，而被派为小学校长，母亲与我都一夜不曾合眼。我只说了句!“以后，您可以歇一歇了!”她的回答只有一串串的眼泪。

午后，手捧一杯茶，静静地阅读一本好书。这样的情景似乎只发生在早已远去的工业时代。如今，在这个充斥着数字、网络和虚拟世界的21世纪，年轻人无时无刻不被机器联系在一起：上班时用电脑工作，购物时电脑划卡，回家后的休息也许还是需要与电脑、电视为伴。这样高速运转的生活，让阅读成了快餐食品，也让很多学者和教育学家开始忧心忡忡：难道21世纪的孩子，不再需要阅读了吗?

Writing a Research PaperI. Research Paper and Ordinary EssayA. Similarity in【T1】______: 【T1】______e.g.— choosing a topic— asking questions— 【T2】______the audience 【T2】______B. Difference mainly in terms of 【T3】______【T3】______1. research paper: printed sources2. ordinary essay: ideas in one's 【T4】______【T4】______II. Types and Characteristics of Research PapersA. Number of basic types: twoB. Characteristics:1. survey-type paper:— to gather 【T5】______【T5】______— to 【T6】______【T6】______— to 【T7】______【T7】______— to paraphraseThe writer should be (8) _____. 【T8】______2. argumentative (research) paper:a. The writer should do more, e.g.— to 【T9】______【T9】______— to question, etc.b. 【T10】______varies with the topic, e.g. 【T10】______— to recommend an action, etc.III. How to Choose a Topic for a Research PaperIn choosing a topic, it is important to 【T11】______. 【T11】______Question No. 1: your【T12】______with the topic 【T12】______Question No. 2: 【T13】______of relevant information on 【T13】______the chosen topicQuestion No. 3: narrowing the topic down to 【T14】______【T14】______Question No. 4: asking questions about 【T15】______【T15】______The questions help us to work our way into the topic and discover its possibilities.

Watching Movies in EnglishI. One great advantage of English learners:Being able to watch【T1】______ in English【T1】______since Hollywood is in AmericaII. The【T2】______ for watching movies in English【T2】______A. Watching a(n)【T3】______ version is better than a dubbed one【T3】______B. Learning by input: watching movies— getting lots of correct English sentences into your head—【T4】______ and making one's own sentences【T4】______— learning different things from different input:books vs. movies: written English vs. spoken English— learning informal and【T5】______ words from movies【T5】______— learning how【T6】______ pronounce words【T6】______— learning to understand spoken English III. How to learn as much as possibleA. You have more【T7】______ in watching movies than in reading【T7】______— words occurring so quickly that dictionary doesn't help— lots of words being required to understand a movieboth spelling and【T8】______【T8】______B. What to do when you don't understand some words— stopping tape or DVD whenever you want—【T9】______ the sentences several times【T9】______— turning on【T10】______【T10】______a)problem: make people lazyb)reminder watching movies without them helps learningC. Watching with the help of【T11】______【T11】______— a list of explanations over 100 difficult sentences— the【T12】______: read the explanations, and then watch movies【T12】______— not have to【T13】______【T13】______D. Pay attention to interesting things:new words, phrases and【T14】______【T14】______E. Use dictionary to learn interesting thingsF. Make a【T15】______ of new and interesting things【T15】______

[此试题无题干]

Scientist, engineer, musician and great artist, Leonardo da Vinci is the archetypal Renaissance man. This undisputed genius, who lived to be 67, was also one of history's most accomplished underachievers. He started many projects he did not finish; he accepted commissions he never began; his many planned treatises remained just notes. Only 18 of his paintings survive. Half of them are included in a show that opened on November 9th at London's National Gallery, making this the most important da Vinci display ever. The artist was born near Florence in 1452 and went to Milan at the age of 30. Luke Syson, the show's curator, has come to believe that the freedom da Vinci enjoyed there as court painter to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, was the key that unlocked his genius. Mr. Syson's contention that Leonardo's great breakthrough came in Milan and not later in Florence, as has generally been accepted until now, has captivated curators, collectors and museum directors who have been generous in loaning works to the show; from the Vatican, Prague, Cracow, Paris and the Royal Collection. All the pictures on show were painted during da Vinci's 18 years in Milan. Never has it been possible to see so many of da Vinci's paintings together. There are also some 50 drawings, including the monumental Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist (sometimes called The Burlington House Cartoon). The one picture missing from this period is The Last Supper, which is painted on a wall. This work, which is badly damaged, is represented here by a large photograph and a near-contemporary (though far inferior) copy. In pages from a notebook da Vinci's slanted "mirror" writing describes the guests at a dinner. With a novelist's interest in detail, he carefully observed the shrug of one man's shoulders, the position of another's hands, the scowl on one face and the frown on yet one more. The exhibition is arranged thematically; in addition to "Beauty and Love", there is also "Character and Emotion" and "Body and Soul". The visitor quickly comes face to face with the portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, also known as The Lady with an Ermine. Although the image is familiar from reproductions, the radiance of the painting is surprising. Further along is an unfinished, yet searing, Saint Jerome. For the first time, both versions of The Virgin of the Rocks, one the National Gallery's own and the other belonging to the Louvre, are shown together. The two versions hang at opposite ends of the long exhibition space. The more one looks at the two pictures, the more visible are the differences between them; the strangely formed rocks in the Louvre's version create a protective atmosphere, whereas in the National Gallery's painting the rocks seem quite eerie, contributing to the overall sepulchral feel of the work. As a philosopher and scientist, da Vinci strove to understand what he observed in his close studies of nature. Art was an expression of his thoughts. The Lady with an Ermine shows the Duke of Milan's teenage mistress in a fashionable red gown, its slit sleeves revealing a pale underdress. Da Vinci, always fascinated by knots, carefully details the way the black ribbons are tied on Cecilia's left sleeve. Her right arm is in shadow. The ties on that sleeve are sketchy. The artist has taken into account his observation that visual acuity declines in the dark. The brain fills in necessary information. The sketchiness of the right sleeve helps bring the portrait to life, creating what Walter Pater, a 19th-century British essayist and art critic, described as a "reality which almost amounts to illusion". Da Vinci would sometimes spend years thinking about a single painting. Mr. Syson hopes visitors to the National Gallery will, in turn, look long and hard at these works. Advance tickets for entry to the end of the year had sold out by the opening day. The show does not close until February 5th 2012, but advance tickets for its final weeks are going fast. Meanwhile, the only way to get in now is to queue for one of the 500 tickets being held back for sale each morning. The security checks are elaborate, but the wait is well worth it.

Today, the outbreak of AIDS has given a new sense of urgency to sex education. However, whether to perform sex education in schools for students at a younger age has aroused heated debate among people. In the following excerpt, the journalist reports the current situation about sex education in the United States. Read the report carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the author's opinion; 2. give your comment. Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Write your article on ANSWER SHEET FOUR. Excerpt The debate over whether to have sex education in American schools is over. A new poll by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government finds that only 7 percent of Americans say sex education should not be taught in schools. Moreover, in most places there is even little debate about what kind of sex education should be taught, although there are still pockets of controversy. Parents are generally content with whatever sex education is offered by their children's school, and public school principals, in a parallel NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School survey, report little serious conflict over sex education in their communities nowadays. Nearly three-quarters of the principals (74 percent) say there have been no recent discussions or debate in PTA, school board or other public meetings about what to teach in sex education. Likewise, few principals report being contacted by elected officials, religious leaders or other people in their communities about sex education. However, this does not mean that all Americans agree on what kind of sex education is best. There are major differences over the issue of abstinence. Fifteen percent of Americans believe that schools should teach only about abstinence from sexual intercourse and should not provide information on how to obtain and use condoms and other contraception. A plurality (46 percent) believes that the most appropriate approach is one that might be called "abstinence-plus"—that while abstinence is best, some teens do not abstain, so schools also should teach about condoms and contraception. Thirty-six percent believe that abstinence is not the most important thing, and that sex education should focus on teaching teens how to make responsible decisions about sex. Advocates of abstinence have had some success. Federal funds are now being made available for abstinence programs; in his State of the Union address President Bush called for an increase in the funding. And in spite of the fact that only 15 percent of Americans say they want abstinence-only sex education in the schools, 30 percent of the principals of public middle schools and high schools where sex education is taught report that their schools teach abstinence-only. Forty-seven percent of their schools taught abstinence-plus, while 20 percent taught that making responsible decisions about sex was more important than abstinence. (Middle schools were more likely to teach abstinence-only than high schools. High schools were more likely than middle schools to teach abstinence-plus. High schools and middle schools were equally likely to teach that abstinence is not the most important thing. ) In many ways, abstinence-only education contrasts with the broad sex education curriculum that most Americans want—from the basics of how babies are made to how to put on a condom to how to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. Some people thought that some topics were better suited for high school students than middle school students, or vice versa, but few thought any of the topics suggested were inappropriate at all.

去年十一月四日，我到了纽约，这是世界上最大的城市之一。傍晚，我住进了曼哈顿区的一家旅馆，地处纽约最繁华的市区。夜晚，我漫步在银行、公司、商店、事务所密集的街头。高楼耸立夜空，像陡峻的山峰；墙壁是透明的玻璃，好像水晶宫。五颜六色的街灯闪闪烁烁，远远近近，高高低低，时隐时现。走在路上，就像浮游在布满繁星的天空。