BSection III Writing/B
BPart CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese./B
Suppose you are a professor, and your student Gloria has applied for a part-time job. Write her a recommendation to 1) introduce her, and 2) recommend her. You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Professor Li" instead. Do not write your address.
BPart B/B
Mammals vary enormously in size, from weighing less than a penny to measuring more than three school buses in length. Some groups of mammals have become very large, such as elephants and whales,【C1】______others have always been small, like primates. A new theory developed by an international team, led by Jordan Okie,【C2】______an explanation for why and how【C3】______groups of organisms are able to evolve【C4】______sizes, whereas others are not. The research team【C5】______information on how quickly an individual animal grows and used it to【C6】______how large it may get【C7】______evolutionary time. Their research was published recently. The new theory developed from the observation that some animals【C8】______fast and die young, while others take their time and mature much later. "Fast" animals-such as mice—breed very quickly, while humans mature slowly and are relatively older when they first have children. The theory【C9】______that those species that are relatively faster are more likely to evolve a large size quicker than slow species, and that their maximum size will be greater. The research team tested their theory using the【C10】______records of mammals over the last 70 million years, examining the maximum size of each mammal group【C11】______that time, including whales, elephants, seals and primates. They found that their theory was very well【C12】______. "Primates have evolved very slowly, and never got bigger than 1,000 pounds," said Okie, "The【C13】______was true of whales, which evolved their large size at the fastest【C14】______recorded." The theory also makes predictions about the relative risks of extinction for large animals【C15】______small. The maximum size of an animal is limited by the rate of mortality in the【C16】______. Because larger animals【C17】______breed less frequently than smaller animals,【C18】______the mortality rate doubles, the maximum size is predicted to be 16 times smaller. "This is a really surprising【C19】______," said Okie. "It points to another reason why many of the large animals went【C20】______after the last Ice Age, and their high risk of extinction in modern environments."
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
Seven years ago, when I was visiting Germany, I met with an official who explained to me that the country had a perfect solution to its economic problems. Watching the U.S. economy【C1】______ during the 90s, the Germans had decided that they, too, needed to go the high-technology【C2】______ . But how? In the late 90s, the answer seemed obvious: Indians.【C3】______ all, Indian entrepreneurs accounted for one of every three Silicon Valley start-ups. So the German government decided that it would【C4】______ Indians to Germany just as America does: by【C5】______ green cards. Officials created something called the German Green Card and【C6】______ that they would issue 20 000 in the first year.【C7】______ , the Germans expected that tens of thousands more Indians would soon be begging to come, and perhaps the【C8】______ would have to be increased. But the program was a failure. A year later【C9】______ half of the 20 000 cards had been issued. After a few extensions, the program was【C10】______. I told the German official at the time that I was sure the【C11】______ would fail. It' s not that I had any particular expertise in immigration policy,【C12】______ I understood something about green cards, because I had one (the American【C13】______ ). The German Green Card was misnamed, I argued,【C14】______ it never, under any circumstances, translated into German citizenship. The U.S. green card, by contrast, is an almost【C15】______ path to becoming American (after five years and a clean record). The official【C16】______ my objection, saying that there was no way Germany was going to offer these people citizenship. "We need young tech workers," he said. "That' s what this program is all【C17】______." So Germany was asking bright young【C18】______ to leave their country, culture and families, move thousands of miles away, learn a new language and work in a strange land—but without any【C19】______ of ever being part of their new home. Germany was sending a signal, one that was【C20】______ received in India and other countries, and also by Germany's own immigrant community.
You lost your book when you were studying in the lecture room. Write a lost notice to 1) inform others about the details, and 2) express your hope of finding it back. You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead.
Suppose you want to apply for admission to Washington University, but you can"t get all your materials ready before the stated deadline. Write a letter with your application materials to Washington University to 1) explain, and 2) earn a chance for yourself. You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address.
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowinglinegraph.Inyouressay,youshould1)interpretthelinegraphand2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)
What would you do with? $ 590m? This is now a question for Gloria Mackenzie, an 84-year-old widow who recently emerged from her small, tin-roofed house in Florida to collect the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history. If she hopes her new-found fortune will yield lasting feelings of fulfillment, she could do worse than read Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton. These two academics use an array of behavioral research to show that the most rewarding ways to spend money can be counterintuitive. Fantasies of great wealth often involve visions of fancy cars and extravagant homes. Yet satisfaction with these material purchases wears off fairly quickly. What was once exciting and new becomes old-hat; regret creeps in. It is far better to spend money on experiences, say Ms. Dunn and Mr. Norton, like interesting trips, unique meals or even going to the cinema. These purchases often become more valuable with time—as stories or memories — particularly if they involve feeling more connected to others. This slim volume is packed with tips to help wage slaves as well as lottery winners get the most " happiness bang for your buck." It seems most people would be better off if they could shorten their commutes to work, spend more time with friends and family and less of it watching television(something the average American spends a whopping two months a year doing, and is hardly jollier for it). Buying gifts or giving to charity is often more pleasurable than purchasing things for oneself, and luxuries are most enjoyable when they are consumed sparingly. This is apparently the reason MacDonald' s restricts the availability of its popular McRib — a marketing trick that has turned the pork sandwich into an object of obsession. Readers of Happy Money are clearly a privileged lot, anxious about fulfillment, not hunger. Money may not quite buy happiness, but people in wealthier countries are generally happier than those in poor ones. Yet the link between feeling good and spending money on others can be seen among rich and poor people around the world, and scarcity enhances the pleasure of most things for most people. Not everyone will agree with the authors' policy ideas, which range from mandating more holiday time to reducing tax incentives for American homebuyers. But most people will come away from this book believing it was money well spent.
BSection III Writing/B
Directions: Despite the mountains of information warning us of the danger of smoking, teenager smoking is on the rise. In this section, you are asked to write an essay on the consequences of teenage smoking. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.
Artificial intelligence was a catchword at the Summer Davos forum in Dalian, Liaoning province, which concluded on Thursday. While participants from the academia, governments and the corporate sector had in-depth discussions on the future of AI technology at the three-day event, consultancy companies released reports highlighting the economic benefits of AI for China and the world at large. However, history tells us that, while technological advancements have brought us benefits, they have also led to great social upheavals, by, for example, changing the production and labor structures, and forcing many workers to either adapt to the changes or lose their jobs. In the 18th century, for instance , skilled workers rose up in revolt to resist the Industrial Revolution, with their protests culminating in movement that saw textile workers destroying machinery. We may not see similar protests today, but history should serve as a warning against the indiscriminate development and application of AI technology. While we may gain a lot of benefits from AI, we must work out plans to offset its negative impact on society, especially for workers.
BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B
BSection III Writing/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: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B
There were some consistent patterns among the heavier readers: For the younger children— ages 6 to 11—being read aloud to regularly and having restricted online time were correlated with frequent reading; for the older children—ages 12 to 17—one of the largest predictors was whether they had time to read on their own during the school day.
The finding about reading aloud to children long after toddlerhood may come as a surprise to some parents who read books to children at bedtime when they were very young but then
tapered off
. Last summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced a new policy recommending that all parents read to their children from birth.
"A lot of parents assume that once kids begin to read independently, that now that is the best thing for them to do," said Maggie McGuire, the vice president for a website for parents operated by Scholastic. But reading aloud through elementary school seemed to be connected to a love of reading generally. According to the report, 41 percent of frequent readers ages 6 to 10 were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to.
Of course, children who love to read are generally immersed in households with lots of books and parents who like to read. So while parents who read to their children later in elementary school may encourage those children to become frequent readers on their own, such behavior can also result from "a whole constellation of other things that goes on in those families," said Timothy Shanahan, a past president of the International Reading Association.
There is not yet strong research that connects reading aloud at older ages to improved reading comprehension. But some literacy experts said that when parents or teachers read aloud to children even after they can read themselves, the children can hear more complex words or stories than they might tackle themselves.
"It's this idea of marinating children in higher-level vocabulary," said Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld.Org, a nonprofit group that works to increase literacy among young people. "The read-aloud can really lift the child." Other literacy experts say the real value of reading to children is helping to develop background knowledge in all kinds of topics as well as exposure to sophisticated language.
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