(1)The Burmese sub-inspector and some Indian constables were waiting for me in the quarter where the elephant had been seen. We began questioning the people as to where the elephant had gone and, as usual, failed to get any definite information. I had almost made up my mind that the whole story was a pack of lies, when we heard yells a little distance away. There was a loud cry of "Go away, child!Go away this instant! " and an old woman with a switch in her hand came round the corner of a hut, violently driving away a crowd of naked children. I rounded the hut and saw a man's dead body sprawling in the mud. The people said that the elephant had come suddenly upon him round the corner of the hut, caught him with its trunk, put its foot on his back and ground him into the earth. As soon as I saw the dead man I sent an orderly to a friend's house nearby to borrow an elephant rifle. (2)The orderly came back in a few minutes with a rifle and five cartridges, and meanwhile some Burmans had arrived and told us that the elephant was in the paddy fields below, only a few hundred yards away. As I started forward practically the whole population of the quarter flocked out of the houses and followed me. They had seen the rifle and were all shouting excitedly that I was going to shoot the elephant. It made me vaguely uneasy. I had no intention of shooting the elephant — I had merely sent for the rifle to defend myself if necessary — and it is always unnerving to have a crowd following you. I marched down the hill, looking and feeling a fool, with the rifle over my shoulder and an ever-growing army of people jostling at my heels. The elephant was standing eight yards from the road, his left side towards us. He took not the slightest notice of the crowd's approach. He was tearing up bunches of grass, beating them against his knees to clean them and stuffing them into his mouth. (3)I had halted on the road. As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him. It is a serious matter to shoot a working elephant — it is comparable to destroying a huge and costly piece of machinery — and obviously one ought not to do it if it can possibly be avoided. And at that distance peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. I thought then and I think now that his attack of "must" was already passing off: in which case he would merely wander harmlessly about until his owner came back and caught him. Moreover, I did not in the least want to shoot him. I decided that I would watch him for a little while to make sure that he did not turn savage again, and then go home. (4)But at that moment, I glanced round at the crowd that had followed me. It was an immense crowd, two thousand at the least and growing every minute. It blocked the road for a long distance on either side. I looked at the sea of yellow faces above the garish clothes — faces all happy and excited over this bit of fun, all certain that the elephant was going to be shot. They were watching me as they would watch a conjuror about to perform a trick. And suddenly I realized that I should have to shoot the elephant after all: The people expected it of me and I had got to do it: I would feel their two thousand wills pressing me forward, irresistibly. And it was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle in my hands that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the White man's dominion in the East. Here was I, the white man with his gun, standing in front of the unarmed native crowd — seemingly the leading actor of the piece: but in reality I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind. I perceived in this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys. He becomes a sort of hollow, posing dummy, the conventionalized figure of a sahib. For it is the condition of his rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives", and so in every crisis he has got to do what the "natives" expect of him. He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it. I had got to shoot the elephant. I had committed myself to doing it when I sent for the rifle. A sahib has got to act like a sahib: he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things. To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing — no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man's life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at. (5)But I did not want to shoot the elephant. I watched him beating his bunch of grass against his knees, with that preoccupied grandmotherly air that elephants have. It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him. At that age I was not squeamish about killing animals, but I had never shot an elephant and never wanted to.(Somehow it always seems worse to kill a large animal.)Besides, there was the beast's owner to be considered. Alive, the elephant was worth at least a hundred pounds: dead, he would only be worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, possibly. But I had got to act quickly. I turned to some experienced-looking Burmans who had been there when we arrived, and asked them how the elephant had been behaving. They all said the same thing: he took no notice of you if you left him alone, but he might charge if you went too close to him.

As I ponder whom it might be that I would consider a role model, I realized that there are a lot of people I know personally that I could look to for inspiration. But I am sharing these thoughts with others who most likely do not know my friend or my sister-in-law or the gal I work with. Therefore I think I should write about someone famous. But, it seems that these days there are not a lot of good role models to choose from, at least not from the "typical "choices that we usually think of as role models. I realize celebrities' private lives should be just that; but when a person is in the limelight perhaps they should use that notoriety for some sort of good. There are some criteria that my role model must possess. First, she must be close to my age. She has to have overcome some obstacle, or maybe better said, did not have her "celebrity" status handed to her. Finally, she must be helping others. Sharing the blessings she has received with others. I believe that someone who fits those criteria quite well is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey's life has had a very difficult and tumultuous beginning. She was born in 1954 to a poor, unmarried black girl living in the very racially segregated state of Mississippi. For a while, Oprah was raised by her grandmother, after her mother moved north. She eventually went to live with her father in Nashville, after having survived body abuse and the birth and death of baby of her own. Oprah's rise to fame began in Baltimore, then Chicago, with her hosting morning talk shows, such as "A. M. Chicago". She became so popular that in 1986, she launched "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Oprah began her own production company, Harpo, and obtained control of "The Oprah Winfrey Show", which was now in syndication. In 1994, Oprah did something that caught my attention and with which she gained my respect. She decided to break away from the mold of other daytime talk shows and pledged that her show would be free from "tabloid topics". Her viewers responded slowly, but very positively, and her popularity surged. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was now centered on uplifting, meaningful subjects, many of which are aimed towards women. Oprah has used her gaining popularity, in my opinion, to launch many meaningful projects. She launched Oprah's Book Club in 1996. The Book Club is an on-air reading club intended to get the country excited about literature again. To date, all the book club selections have become instant bestsellers. Oprah's Angel Network was started in 1997,encouraging people to open their hearts to those in need. This includes a project to collect small change to send students to college and to sponsor Habitat for Humanity programs. Oprah has been able to share her blessings with others while keeping her pledge to focus "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on subjects that will encourage her viewers. Each week her shows cover such topics as spirituality, wellness, fitness, relationships, steps towards financial freedom and more. Winfrey's talent for public performance and spontaneity in answering questions helped her win fame. Winfrey talk show has an estimated audience of 14 million daily in the US and millions more in 132 other countries—predominantly women. She is also an accomplished actress and won an Academy Award nomination for her role in The Color Purple. Another reason that I admire Oprah is because she genuinely seems to be "just a regular gal". Her book, Make the Connection shows how Oprah is like any other woman. The painful revelations she shares about her struggle with weight loss really touched me. Even as she was given an Emmy Award, her thoughts were on how heavy she must look in the dress she was wearing. Once, I went to a lecture given by one of Oprah's favorite authors. As we were sitting before the lecture began, a couple of black women walked in. My friend said, "Oh look, there's Oprah," I said, "no it's not", she said, "yes it is" and back and forth we went. Well, as it turns out, it was Oprah. She looked just like the rest of us? she did not come in amongst media frenzy as might be expected. When the speaker introduced her, she was almost embarrassed to stand. I feel Oprah is a genuinely nice person, someone who would be a great girl friend. She has a head on her shoulders and knows where she is going. She has made a name for herself and is not embarrassed by her wealth and knows the importance of sharing the blessings that have been bestowed upon her.

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

PASSAGE FOUR

我到这个城市出差，昨天下午下榻在这家旅馆。他和他的妻子就住在我的隔壁。这家旅馆的条件不太好，隔墙很薄，一点都不隔音。他们说话的声音总是很清晰地传过来。很快，我就凭直觉得到了一个印象，那女人很懒，不管什么事情都爱支使丈夫：给我倒杯水：给我找双袜子…… 女人发号施令的手段很高明，使用的都是口气柔和的祈使句。但不管怎样，事无巨细都要男人效劳是很不应该的。他对妻子总是百依百顺，我从未听到过那有什么不耐烦的表示，而且，我听得出来，他极其恭顺而温存，仿佛这么奴役般地被老婆支使得团团转是一种享受似的。于是我猜测：他的妻子很漂亮，因为大凡漂亮的女人都颇有些自命不凡，总把自己当做高贵的公主。

在郭老新编的话剧“蔡文姬”里，提到了蔡文姬的父亲蔡邕所造的那张焦尾琴。最近我看了“蔡文姬”的演出，自然而然想起了焦尾琴，想起了关于焦尾琴的故事： 蔡邕因为不愿趋附权贵，怕被人陷害，曾经亡命江南，往来于吴会之间(今江、浙一带)，计十二年。据说他在吴(今苏州)的时候，有一天听见邻家烧饭的柴火中发出一种爆裂的声音，他熟悉这种声音，知道这声音来自一种极好的桐木(paulownia wood)，这种桐木是造琴(seven—stringed zither)的最好材料。他就跟邻家主人商量，把这段烧焦了的桐木要了来，造成一张琴。这张琴弹起来果然非常好听。 因为它的一端是烧焦的，所以大家都叫它焦尾琴。

Distant indeed seem the days when the two great rivals of commercial aviation, Boeing and Airbus, would use big air shows to trumpet hundreds of new orders. This year's Paris Air Show was a much more sombre affair, even if the Boeing-Airbus feud still took centre stage. There were one or two bright spots. Airbus was able to boast of a firm order for ten of its wide-body A350s from AirAsia X. John Leahy, its top salesman, expects deliveries in 2009 to match the record 483 in 2008. Boeing, which was hit by a prolonged strike last year, will probably deliver more aircraft this year than last. Both firms built up huge backlogs in the fat years: each has orders for about 3,500 planes. But many of those may soon evaporate. Giovanni Bisignani, the boss of IATA, the trade body that speaks for most airlines, gave warning earlier this month that his members might defer as many as 30% of aircraft deliveries next year. He also almost doubled his forecast for the industry's cumulative losses in 2009, to $9 billion. Both Mr. Leahy and Jim McNerney, the chief executive of Boeing, think that Mr. Bisignani is overdoing the gloom. But they concede that potential customers may find purchases hard to finance. Another issue is the cost of fuel. Mr. McNerney thinks the recent increase in the oil price should encourage carriers to replace elderly gas guzzlers with efficient new planes. But if the price "spikes over $100" all bets are off. The two aviation giants agree on one other thing: the industry will not get a successor to its ubiquitous short-haul workhorses, the 737 and the A320, for more than a decade. That is partly because the 15 -20% efficiency gain that airlines say they want from the next generation is, says Mr. McNerney, "a bar that keeps moving north" thanks to the continuous improvements of 1 -2% a year that the manufacturers are making to existing planes. Moreover, both Boeing and Airbus are conserving cash for a long and bitter scrap to dominate the market for long-haul aircraft with up to 350 seats. Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner will at last take to the air this month, two years late. The production problems that stemmed from both the revolutionary use of composites and an extended global supply chain appear to have been overcome. To speed up deliveries of the 787, for which Boeing has received more than 860 orders, Mr. McNerney is planning a second assembly line. The delays to the 787 have been a godsend for Airbus. Its rival, the slightly bigger A350, is on track to fly in early 2012 after a painful gestation. With nearly 500 orders, Airbus claims that the A350 is selling even faster than the record-breaking 787 did at the same stage in its development. The biggest concern for Boeing, however, is not that the A350 will take sales from the 787, but that its largest variant, the A350-1000, will be a strong rival to its successful 777. Mr McNerney says that Boeing can afford to wait and see how great a threat the biggest A350 is. But according to Airbus executives, Boeing will be faced with the dilemma of merely upgrading the 777 or taking the bigger and more costly step of building a replacement. The A350 and the 787 are at the heart of the long-running and acrimonious dispute between Boeing and Airbus at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over state subsidies for large commercial aircraft. This week European governments declared that they were ready to contribute 3.5 billion ($4.9 billion) of reimbursable launch aid to the 11 billion cost of developing the A350. The announcement had Boeing executives scurrying to their BlackBerrys to condemn what they saw as a "provocative" move given that the WTO is expected to issue a ruling on Boeing's complaint within weeks (a ruling on a counter-complaint by Airbus is due later in the year). Louis Gallois, the chief executive of EADS, the parent company of Airbus, denied there was anything odd about the timing: "We do not plead guilty," he said. "Our support is much more transparent than Boeing's. We have fully repaid with interest the support we received for the A320 and A330 and we are already paying back on the A380 (super-jumbo)." Tom Enders, the chief executive of Airbus, added that the aid was aimed only at "levelling the playing field" and that the European Union had described the 787 as the most subsidised commercial aircraft in history.

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

It was not so long ago that parents drove a teenager tocampus, said a tearful goodbye and returned back home to【M1】______wait a week or so for a phone call to the dorm. Mom or Dad,【M2】______in turn, might write letters—yes, with pens. On stationary. But【M3】______going to college these days means never have to say goodbye,【M4】______thanks to near-saturation of cellphones, email, instant messaging, texting, Facebook and Skype. Researchers are looking at how new technology may be delaying the pointwhich college-bound students truly become independent from【M5】______their parents, and how phenomena such as the introduction of unlimited calling plans have changed the nature of parent-child relationships, and not always for the better. Some research suggests that today's young adults are close【M6】______to their parents than their predecessors. And it's complicated.【M7】______Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose specialty is technology and relationships, calls thisa particular sort of "Huck Finn moment," in which Huck "takes her【M8】______parents with him. We all sail down Mississippi together." From the【M9】______electronic grade monitoring many high schools offer parents, it seems a small leap to keep electronic track of their(adult)children's schedules or to send reminders about deadlines or assignments. Professors have figured out that some kids areemailing papers home to parents to edit. And Skype and【M10】______Facebook might be more than just chances to see a face that's missed at home; parents can peer into their little darling' s messy dorm room or his messy social life.

An expert, together with some assistants, have been sent to help us with the project.

(我们宿舍里没有穿衣镜，饭厅门口倒是有一面。每当我穿上一件漂亮的新连衣裙，我就禁不住暗暗地想往镜子里瞧瞧自己。)但总是在要去瞧的时候就感到特别不自在而踉跄离去——总是在关键时刻打了退堂鼓。

Choosing a Foreign Language to StudyIt is not easy to choose a foreign language to study, but there are some questions you can answer and help you decide which language is suitable for you. I. Reasons— Motivations and goals Examples:a)Learn the language of【T1】_____【T1】______b)Think the language is pretty and interestingc)Increase【T2】_____【T2】______【T3】_____ for people working in U.S.【T3】______Mandarin Chinese for people going into international businessArabic for people interested in【T4】_____ and military【T4】______II.【T5】_____【T5】______— Monolingual speaker with language learning experiences— Monolingual speaker without language learning experiences—【T6】_____ speaker【T6】______III. Time— Half an hour to an hour rninimum— Linguistic【T7】_____reduces the time required for【T7】______learning a new languageExample: English and Russian vs. English and NorwegianIV. Access to native speakers— Converse with them on a(n)【T8】_____basis to improve fluency【T8】______— They help with your pronunciation and【T9】_____【T9】______— Ask for【T10】_____【T10】______— Assess【T11】_____to decide which language you learn【T11】______V. Access to study materials— Many【T12】______material can be found on the Internet【T12】______—【T13】_____ of study material is needed【T13】______— Need access to【T14】_____【T14】______— Locate enough materials to support your progressVI. Desired【T15】_____【T15】______— Some: speaking only— Others: reading and writing— Learning curveEnglish and French vs. English and Japanese

Journey in Catastrophes: Three Forms of Violent Storms I. Winds and stormsA. Winds' moving in violent storms— bringing about a great deal of【T1】 1【T1】 2— being so strong that is terrifyingB. Storms' occurring: the【T2】 3 of massive hot air and cold air【T2】 4— gales: strong enough to uproot trees and blow down chimneys, etc.— thunderstorms: hot enough to expand the air to【T3】 5【T3】 6C. Gales and thunderstorms: happening all over the worldD. Tornadoes, waterspouts and hurricanes: happening only【T4】 7【T4】 8II. TornadoA. Basic knowledge— a very violent wind-storm in the【T5】 9 over land【T5】 10— cause: gathering of【T6】 11 hot, moist air and cold, dry air【T6】 12— season: generally March through August— time of occurrence:【T7】 13【T7】 14B. Damage of a tornado— making【T8】 15 things into dangerous weapons【T8】 16— sucking everything in【T9】 17【T9】 18— tearing,【T10】 19 things【T10】 20III. WaterspoutA. A tornado that happens【T11】 21【T11】 22B. Sucking up water IV. HurricaneA Basic information— other names: tropical cyclones,【T12】 23, and willy-willies【T12】 24— beginning over tropical oceans in late summer— speed: between 12 and 24 miles per hour— blowing in a large spiral around a relative calm center,known as the【T13】 25: generally 20 to 30 miles wide【T13】 26— the storm: likely to extend outward 400 miles B. Damages— bringing【T14】 27, high winds, and storm surges【T14】 28— flattening trees and buildings— flooding everything with the torrential rain— sometimes sweeping inland over sea walls and【T15】 29【T15】 30 Journey in Catastrophes: Three Forms of Violent Storms I. Winds and stormsA. Winds' moving in violent storms— bringing about a great deal of【T1】 31【T1】 32— being so strong that is terrifyingB. Storms' occurring: the【T2】 33 of massive hot air and cold air【T2】 34— gales: strong enough to uproot trees and blow down chimneys, etc.— thunderstorms: hot enough to expand the air to【T3】 35【T3】 36C. Gales and thunderstorms: happening all over the worldD. Tornadoes, waterspouts and hurricanes: happening only【T4】 37【T4】 38II. TornadoA. Basic knowledge— a very violent wind-storm in the【T5】 39 over land【T5】 40— cause: gathering of【T6】 41 hot, moist air and cold, dry air【T6】 42— season: generally March through August— time of occurrence:【T7】 43【T7】 44B. Damage of a tornado— making【T8】 45 things into dangerous weapons【T8】 46— sucking everything in【T9】 47【T9】 48— tearing,【T10】 49 things【T10】 50III. WaterspoutA. A tornado that happens【T11】 51【T11】 52B. Sucking up water IV. HurricaneA Basic information— other names: tropical cyclones,【T12】 53, and willy-willies【T12】 54— beginning over tropical oceans in late summer— speed: between 12 and 24 miles per hour— blowing in a large spiral around a relative calm center,known as the【T13】 55: generally 20 to 30 miles wide【T13】 56— the storm: likely to extend outward 400 miles B. Damages— bringing【T14】 57, high winds, and storm surges【T14】 58— flattening trees and buildings— flooding everything with the torrential rain— sometimes sweeping inland over sea walls and【T15】 59【T15】 60

{{B}}SECTION A MINI-LECTUREIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the mini-lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening to the mini-lecture, please complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure the word(s) you fill in is (are) both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.{{/B}}

[此试题无题干]

(1)"Twenty years ago, Blackpool turned its back on the sea and tried to make itself into an entertainment centre," says Robin Wood, a local official. "Now the thinking is that we should try to refocus on the sea and make Blackpool a family destination again." To say that Blackpool neglected the sea is to put it mildly. In 1976 the European Community, as it then was called, instructed member nations to make their beaches conform to certain minimum standards of cleanliness within ten years. Britain, rather than complying, took the novel strategy of contending that many of its most popular beaches were not swimming beaches at all. Because of Britain's climate the sea-bathing season is short, and most people don't go in above their knees anyway—and hence can't really be said to be swimming. By averaging out the number of people actually swimming across 365 days of the year, the government was able to persuade itself, if no one else, that Britain had hardly any real swimming beaches. (2)As one environmentalist put it to me: "You had the ludicrous situation in which Luxembourg had more listed public bathing beaches than the whole of the United Kingdom. It was preposterous." (3)Meanwhile, Blackpool continued to discharge raw sewage straight into the sea. Finally, after much pressure from both environmental groups and the European Union, the local water authority built a new waste-treatment facility for the whole of Blackpool and neighbouring communities. The facility came online in June 1996. For the first time since the industrial revolution Blackpool's waters are safe to swim in. (4)That done, the town is now turning its attention to making the sea-front more visually attractive. The promenade, once a rather elegant place to stroll, had become increasingly tatty and neglected. "It was built in Victorian times and needed a thorough overhaul anyway," says Wood, "so we decided to make aesthetic improvements at the same time, to try to draw people back to it." Blackpool recently spent about $1.4 million building new kiosks for vendors and improving seating around the Central Pier and plans to spend a further $15 million on various amenity projects. (5)The most striking thing about Blackpool these days compared with 20 years ago is how empty its beaches are. When the tide is out, Blackpool's beaches are a vast plain of beckoning sand. They look spacious enough to accommodate comfortably the entire populace of northern England. Ken Welsby remembers days when, as he puts it, "you couldn't lay down a handkerchief on this beach, it was that crowded." (6)Welsby comes from Preston, 20 miles down the road, and has been visiting Blackpool all his life. Now retired, he had come for the day with his wife, Kitty, and their three young grandchildren, who were gravely absorbed in building a sandcastle. "Two hundred thousand people they'd have on this beach sometimes," Welsby said. "You can't imagine it now, can you?" (7)Indeed I could not. Though it was a bright sunny day in the middle of summer, I counted just 13 people scattered along a half mile or so of open sand. Except for those rare times when hot weather and a public holiday coincide, it is like this nearly always now. (8)"You can't imagine how exciting it was to come here for the day when we were young," Kitty said. "Even from Preston, it was a big treat. Now children don't want the beach. They want arcade games and rides in helicopters and goodness knows what else." She stared out over the glittery water. "We'll never see those days again. It's sad really." (9)"But your grandchildren seem to be enjoying it," I pointed out. (10)"For the moment," Ken said. "For the moment." (11)Afterward I went for a long walk along the empty beach, then went back to the town centre and treated myself to a large portion of fish-and-chips wrapped in paper. The way they cook it in Blackpool, it isn't so much a meal as an invitation to a heart attack, but it was delicious. Far out over the sea the sun was setting with such splendor that I would almost have sworn I could hear the water hiss where it touched. (12)Behind me the lights of Blackpool Tower were just twinkling on, and the streets were beginning to fill with happy evening throngs. In the purply light of dusk the town looked peaceful and happy—enchanting even—and there was an engaging air of expectancy, of fun about to happen. Somewhat to my surprise, I realized that this place was beginning to grow on me.

Their selfishness is most shamelessly expressed in downsizing and outsourcing because these business maneuvers don't act to create new jobs as the founder of new industries used to do, but only to cut out jobs while kept the money value of what those jobs produced for themselves.

Over the past generation, about 270m Chinese labourers have left their villages to look for work in cities. Many of those workers have children; most do not take them along. We call these youngsters liushou ertong, or "left-behind children". It is not hard to imagine that the damage will be felt not just by the left-behind themselves but by society as a whole. The following article analyzes the problem in details. Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the news report; 2. give your comment. An estimated 61 million children are "left behind" by their migrant parents. Being left behind damages children in many ways. A non-governmental organisation, Growing Home, surveyed them this year and found that they were more introverted than their peers and more vulnerable to being bullied; they also had "significantly higher states of anxiety and depression" than their peers. Being brought up by grandparents is a common experience worldwide, and by no means necessarily harmful. But China's rapid development does make it more of a problem now than it was in the past. Unlike their parents, the left-behind children's grandparents are often illiterate; their schooling can suffer accordingly. Lastly, left-behind children are vulnerable to sexual and other abuse. Child abuse is distressingly common anyway. An analysis of 47 studies in Chinese and English this year estimated that over a quarter of Chinese children are physically abused at some point in their lives. The left behind are among the most vulnerable to such abuse, especially those in boarding schools, because any adults who might speak up for them are far away. Leaving such broader consequences aside, the decision to leave behind a child is a hard one. Why do so many migrants make it? According to a survey, two-thirds said they would not have enough time to look after them while working in the city; half said it was too expensive to bring up children there. In principle migrants might take along their grandparents rather than leaving behind their children. But the restrictions of the hukou system make that almost impossible. The hukou or household-registration document is a bit like an internal passport, giving people access to various services. When registered in the country, grandparents get a lower pension than urban dwellers—and the money is not enough for them to live in the city. The hukou system also exacerbates things by making it very hard for children registered in a rural area to get state schooling or health care in the city. Private schools that exploit the opportunity this presents are often crowded, substandard and constantly threatened with closure by city governments. On top of this vital school-leaving exams have to be sat where a child is registered. So even if children accompany their parents to the city, they are almost always sent back again at the age of 14 to prepare for the exam. Reform of the hukou system-already under way, in a piecemeal fashion-can address some of the problems of the left-behind and those who leave them. But given the underlying factors at work a full response will require China to build a child-welfare system almost from scratch. At its heart, the problem of the left-behind is one of misplaced hopes. Like so many parents, China's migrants are deferring pleasure now (that of raising their children) for the hope of a better life later (to be bought with the money they earn). One result has been the stunning growth of cities and the income they generate. Another has been a vast disruption of families-and the children left behind are bearing the burden of loss.