BSection I Use of EnglishDirections: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D./B

Ever since Muzak started serenading patrons of hotels and restaurants in the 1930s, piped-in music has been part of the consumer experience. Without the throb of a synthesiser or a guitar's twang, shoppers would sense something missing as they tried on jeans or filled up trolleys. Specialists like Mood Media, which bought Muzak in 2011, devise audio programmes to influence the feel of shops and cater to customers' tastes. The idea is to entertain, and thereby prolong the time shoppers spend in stores, says Claude Nahon, the firm's international chief. Music by famous artists works better than the generic stuff that people associate with Muzak. The embarrassing brand name was dropped in 2013. Online shopping is an under-explored area of merchandising musicology. A new study commissioned by eBay, a shopping website, aims to correct that. Some 1,900 participants were asked to simulate online shopping while listening to different sounds. Some results were unsurprising. The noise of roadworks and crying babies soured shoppers' views of the products on offer. Chirruping birds encouraged sales of barbecues but not blenders or board games. Sounds associated with quality and luxury seemed to be hazardous for shoppers' wallets. The study found classical music and restaurant buzz caused them to overestimate the quality of goods on offer and to pay more than they should. That backs up earlier research which found that shoppers exposed to classical music in a wine store bought more expensive bottles than those hearing pop. EBay wants consumers to avoid such unhealthy influences when shopping online. It has blended birdsong, dreamy music and the sound of a rolling train—thought to be pleasant but not overly seductive—to help them buy more sensibly. Retailers could presumably counter by turning up the Chopin. "Classical music does seem to be the way to go" if your only interest is the narrow one of squeezing as much money as possible from your clientele, says the study's author, Patrick Fagan, a lecturer at Goldsmiths, part of the University of London. Few traditional shops are likely to use that tactic. H&M, a clothes retailer, airs "trendy, up-tempo" music from new artists, while Nespresso's coffee boutiques go for "lounge-y" sounds, says Mr. Nahon. Grocery stores, with a broad following, play top 40 hits. The tempo tends to be slower in the mornings, when shoppers are sparser and older, and becomes more quick and lively as the day goes on.

Thinner isn' t always better. A number of studies have【C1】______that normal-weight people are in fact at higher risk of some diseases compared to those who are overweight. And there are health conditions for which being overweight is actually【C2】______. For example, heavier women are less likely to develop calcium deficiency than thin women. 【C3】______, among the elderly, being somewhat overweight is often an【C4】______of good health. Of even greater【C5】______is the fact that obesity turns out to be very difficult to define. It is often defined【C6】______body mass index, or BMI. BMI【C7】______body mass divided by the square of height. An adult with a BMI of 18 to 25 is often considered to be normal weight. Between 25 and 30 is overweight. And over 30 is considered obese. Obesity, 【C8】______, can be divided into moderately obese, severely obese, and very severely obese. While such numerical standards seem【C9】______, they are not. Obesity is probably less a matter of weight than body fat. Some people with a high BMI are in fact extremely fit, 【C10】______others with a low BMI may be in poor【C11】______. For example, many collegiate and professional football players【C12】______as obese, though their percentage body fat is low. Conversely, someone with a small frame may have high body fat but a【C13】______BMI. Today we have a(an) 【C14】______to label obesity as a disgrace. The overweight are sometimes【C15】______in the media with their faces covered. Stereotypes【C16】______with obesity include laziness, lack of will power, and lower prospects for success. Teachers, employers, and health professionals have been shown to harbor biases against the obese. 【C17】______very young children tend to look down on the overweight, and teasing about body build has long been a problem in schools. Negative attitudes toward obesity, 【C18】______in health concerns, have stimulated a number of anti-obesity【C19】______My own hospital system has banned sugary drinks from its facilities. Many employers have instituted weight loss and fitness initiatives. Michelle Obama has launched a high-visibility campaign【C20】______childhood obesity, even claiming that it represents our greatest national security threat.

Directions: Most of us are happy to have long holidays, such as Labor Day, National Day and Spring Festival. But there are also some disadvantages of a long holiday. In this section, you are asked to write an essay on a major advantage/disadvantage of a long holiday. You can take either stand and provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.

BPart BDirections: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following information./B

BSection I Use of EnglishDirections: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D./B

BPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D./B

The happier you are, the better, right? Not necessarily. Studies show that there is a darker side to feeling good and that the【C1】______of happiness can sometimes make you less happy. Too much cheerfulness can make you deceivable, less successful—and that"s only the tip of the iceberg. Happiness does have【C2】______. It can protect us from stroke and from the common cold, makes us more【C3】______to pain and even【C4】______our lives. Yet, June Gruber, a psychologist warns that it"s important to experience positive moods in moderation. She compares happiness to food:【C5】______necessary and beneficial, too much food can cause problems;【C6】______, happiness can lead to bad outcomes. "Research indicates that very high levels of positive feelings【C7】______risk-taking behaviors, excess alcohol and drug consumption, overeating, and may lead us to【C8】______threats," she says. How else can excessive joy, or having lots of positive emotions and a relative absence of【C9】______ones, hurt you? First, it may【C10】______your career prospects. Psychologist Edward Diener, known for his happiness research, and his colleagues analyzed a variety of studies, and discovered that those who early in their lives reported the highest life【C11】______years later reported lower income than those who felt slightly less【C12】______when young. What"s more, they【C13】______school earlier. Included in the studies was one【C14】______a group of American college freshmen who in 1976 claimed to be very cheerful. Surveyed again when they were in their late 30s, they earned, on average, almost $3,500 a year less than their slightly less cheerful【C15】______. Why? Diener suggests that people who don"t experience much sadness or anxiety are【C16】______dissatisfied with their jobs and therefore feel less pressure to get more education or change careers. Psychologists point out that emotions are【C17】______: They make us change behavior to help us【C18】______. Anger prepares us to fight; fear helps us flee. But what about sadness? Studies show that when we are sad, we think in a more systematic manner. Sad people are attentive【C19】______details and externally oriented, while happy people【C20】______make snap judgments that may reflect racial or sex stereotyping.

BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B

In this section, you are asked to write an essay based on the following information. Make comments and express your own opinion. You should write at least 150 words. 如今许多大学生喜欢追求名牌；有一些人甚至为了追求名牌，毫不考虑家庭的经济负担。你如何看待这个问题?

Marion Nestle's heavyweight criticism against Coca-Cola and PepsiCo comes at an odd moment for the industry. Americans are drinking fewer sugary sodas—in 2012 production was 23% below what it had been a decade earlier. Even sales of diet drinks are losing their fizz, as consumers question the merits of artificial sweeteners. From one angle, it would seem that health advocates such as Ms Nestle have won. Yet in America companies still produce 30 gallons of regular fizzy drinks per person per year. In many countries, particularly developing ones, consumption is on the rise. Ms Nestle, a professor at New York University, is both inspired by recent progress and dissatisfied with it. That is no surprise. Her first book, Food Politics, remains a bible for those who complain about the power of food companies. In her new book she attacks the industry's most widely consumed, least healthy product. Soda Politics, she says, is a book "to inspire readers to action". As a rallying cry, it is verbose. When readers learn on page 238 that she will pick up a particular subject in chapter 25, it is with no little dismay that they realize they are only on chapter 17. But what the author wants most is to craft a detailed guide to the producers' alleged violation, and how to stop them. Ms Nestle says she would have no complaint with sweet fizzy drinks if they were sipped occasionally, as a treat. However, for millions of people in many countries, they are not. In Mexico companies sold 372 cans of fizzy drinks per person in 2012. About half of Americans do not drink them regularly, but those who do are disproportionately poor, less educated, male, Hispanic or black. 10% of Americans down more than four cans a day. Drinking a lot of sweet fizzy drinks is plainly unhealthy. Unlike a Big Mac, they have no nutritional value; nor do their calories satisfy hunger. One large study found that for each can added to a person's daily diet, the risk of diabetes jumped by 22%. There are also links between sugar and heart disease, stroke and cancer. Drinking lots of sodas imposes clear costs on individuals, Ms Nestle argues, but it has a broader cost, too. American taxpayers subsidize corn production and let the poor use government food vouchers to buy fizzy drinks. More important, taxpayers foot the health bill for those who develop chronic disease.

Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been reassuringly dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital wares if they are to remain valuable, but many publishers are too wary of piracy and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six, only Random House and HarperCollins license e-books with most libraries. The others have either denied requests or are reluctantly experimenting. In August, for example, Penguin will start a pilot with public libraries in New York. Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles from where you live, Electronic book files can be downloaded at home. Digital library catalogues are often browsed at night, from a comfy sofa. The files disappear from the device when they are due (which means no late fees, nor angst about lost or damaged tomes). E-lending is not simple, however. There are lots of different and often incompatible e-book formats, devices and licences. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, a global distributor that secures rights from publishers and provides e-books and audio files in every format. Some 35 million titles were checked out through OverDrive in 2011, and the company now sends useful data on borrowing behavior to participating publishers. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by Over-Drive's market dominance, as the company can increasingly dictate fees and conditions. Publishers were miffed when OverDrive teamed up with Amazon, the world's biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon's Kindle e-reader who want to borrow e-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon's website, where they must use their Amazon account to secure a loan. Amazon then follows up with library patrons directly, letting them know they can "Buy this book" when the loan falls due. So publishers keep tweaking their lending arrangements in search of the right balance. Random House raised its licensing prices earlier this year, and HarperCollins limits libraries to lending its titles 26 times. Penguin plans to keep new releases out of libraries for at least six months, and each book will expire after a year. Hachette is engaged in some secret experiments, and the others are watching with bated breath. In Britain the government will soon announce a review of the matter. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.

Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingtable.Youshould1)describethetableand2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

Wholesale prices in July rose more sharply than expected and at a faster rate than consumer prices,【C1】______ that businesses were still protecting consumers【C2】______ the full brunt(冲击) of higher energy costs. The Producer Price Index,【C3】______ measures what producers receive for goods and services,【C4】______ 1 percent in July, the Labor Department reported yesterday, double【C5】______ economists had been expecting and a sharp turnaround from flat prices in June. Excluding【C6】______ and energy, the core index of producer prices rose 0.4 percent,【C7】______ than the 0. 1 percent that economists had【C8】______ . Much of that increase was a result of an【C9】______ increase in car and truck prices. On Tuesday, the Labor Department said the【C10】______ that consumers paid for goods and services in July were【C11】______ 0.5 percent over all, and up 0. 1 percent, excluding food and energy. 【C12】______ the overall rise in both consumer and producer prices【C13】______ caused by energy costs, which increased 4. 4 percent in the month. (Wholesale food prices【C14】______ 0. 3 percent in July.【C15】______ July 2004, wholesale prices were up 4. 6 percent, the core rate【C16】______ 2. 8 percent, its fastest pace since 1995.) Typically, increases in the Producer Price Index indicate similar changes in the consumer index【C17】______ businesses recoup(补偿) higher costs from customers.【C18】______ for much of this expansion, which started【C19】______ the end of 2001 , that has not been the【C20】______ In fact, many businesses like automakers have been aggressively discounting their products.

In this section, you are asked to write an essay based on the following information. Make comments and express your own opinion. You should write at least 150 words. 有的人认为政府应该在每个城镇设立免费的图书馆。但是另一些人认为这样做是浪费资金，因为公众可以利用家里的因特网来获得需要的信息，而不必去图书馆。你的看法如何?

Getting a proper amount of rest is absolutely essential for building your energy resources. If you frequently work far into the night or have a poor sleep, it stands to reason that you may start to feel a little run down. Though everybody is different, most people need at least seven to eight hours of sleep per night in order to function at their best. If you have been lacking energy, try going to bed earlier at night. If you can wake up feeling well-rested, it will be an indication that you are starting to get an appropriate amount of sleep at night. If you sleep more than eight hours every night but still don't feel energetic, you may actually be getting too much sleep. Once in a while, you are bound to have nights where you don't get an adequate amount of sleep. When your schedule permits you can also consider taking a short sleep during the day, for sometimes taking a nap is the perfect way to recharge your batteries.

Online shopping has become a fashion now. What are the advantages or disadvantages of online shopping? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on online shopping. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.

Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyouressay,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteatleast150words.WriteyouressayontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Forum was established in 2011, with the intention to support and encourage cooperation between the BRICS nations in commercial, political and cultural dimensions. The five member states of BRICS are nations with unique culture, different economic sizes, and social and economic developments. However, one thing the BRICS nations have in common is that each plays significant roles in their regional affairs. Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized, multiple times in his keynote speech to the BRICS heads, as well as to the business and industrial leaders from the participation nations, that the BRICS highly value mutual respect, openness and tolerance, as well as mutual benefit, which, President Xi said he believes, is the cornerstone to the success of the cooperation among the BRICS nations in the past decade and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future cooperation among the BRICS nations, and cooperation between BRICS and other emerging market economies and developing economies.

Using tools doesn't make humans, dolphins, and crows smart. Rather, it's the stress and challenge of living with others—recognizing friend from foe, calculating who to deceive and who to befriend—that led these and other social creatures to evolve their cognitive skills. That's the gist of the social intelligence hypothesis, an idea that's been around since 1966. But does having to remember whose lice need picking actually improve other mental abilities, like figuring out how to open a locked box with a hunk of meat inside? A new study of four carnivores—two social and two solitary species—suggests that it does. "They've taken an important issue and tested it in a simple but novel way," says Richard Byrne, an evolutionary psychologist at The University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study. "The results are clear; The cognitive benefit from being a social carnivore does transfer" to a mental ability that has nothing to do with being social , he says. Other researchers think the results aren't as clear-cut. " It is important and a valuable stepping stone in our quest to understand how intelligence evolved, but like all studies, it is one piece of a larger puzzle," says Sarah Benson-Amram, a zoologist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, whose recent comparative study of 39 species of carnivores reached the opposite conclusion. Scientists devised the social intelligence hypothesis to explain the evolution of the human brain. They've found that most social species (from chimpanzees to social wasps) have relatively large brains and are cognitively sophisticated, adept at experiments designed to test their smarts. But some researchers argue that another factor—a challenging environment—may also stimulate cognitive evolution. If so, then more solitary species could also be large-brained and smart thanks to the ecological difficulties they face. Other researchers concur, but with caveats. " They did find a nice link between sociality and success" on this task, says Evan MacLean, a comparative psychologist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. But he wonders what type of cognition the ability to open a puzzle box actually demonstrates. " It may be reflective of trial and error learning, insight, or just of curiosity or interest in novel objects. " The puzzle box is also not particularly " ecologically relevant," to the carnivores, notes primatolo-gist Frans de Waal at Emory University in Atlanta, who would like to see the animals tested on some type of predator-prey task. Still, it is " a good first step and a fresh approach to the intelligence of carnivores , a group we have neglected for too long. "