It is a well-known fact that there are constant conflicts among different groups of people, and that people tend to blame their misfortunes on some outside other groups for their misfortunes. What are the causes of group prejudice? There seems to be little doubt that one of the principal causes of prejudice is fear: in particular the fear that the interests of our own group are going to be endangered by the actions of another. This is less likely to be the case in a stable, relatively unchanging society in which the members of different social and occupational groups know what to expect of each other, and know what to expect for themselves. In times of rapid social and economic change, however, new occupations and new social roles appear, and people start looking jealously at each other to see whether their own group is being left behind.

BPart CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese./B

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

BSection III Writing/B

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language—all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts. By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.

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

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

Suppose Christmas is around the corner, and you think of Professor Liu, a teacher who taught you a lot when you were at university. Write him a greeting card to 1) recall the days you spent together, and 2) express your best wishes to him. You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead.

Readthefollowingtextandmatcheachofthenumbereditemsintheleftcolumntoitscorrespondinginformationintherightcolumn.Therearetwoextrachoicesintherightcolumn.MarkyouranswersontheANSWERSHEET.(10points)Mostpeoplecanidentifytheirtoppriorityatwork.Generally,itwillbethepartofthejobthatismostproductivefortheiremployer:foramergerandacquisitionsbanker,itcouldbelandingabigdealforaclient;foralorrydriver,thepunctualdeliveryofanimportantconsignment;forahospitaldoctorornurse,givingvitaltreatmenttoapatient.Buteveryjobisringedwithsecondarytasks—theroutinebutcriticalstuffcoveredbycodesandguidelines.Ifsuchchoresareneglected,theconsequencesmayundermineoverallsuccess.Newresearchsuggeststiredworkersindemandingjobsstartgivingupdoingthosesmall,butvital,tasksremarkablyquickly.PeterThiel,theentrepreneur,wroteintheFTlastweekthatcomputers"excelatefficientdataprocessingbutstruggletomakebasicjudgments".Inotherwords,humansarenotredundant.Buttheflesh-and-bloodworkerswhoremainnowhavegreaterresponsibilityformoreimportanttasks.Ifcompaniespilemoreworkontothem,thesewearyemployeescouldinadvertentlyplungethemintodisaster.Itisatruismthatatiredworkerislessproductivethanafreshone.ButresearchersatWhartonbusinessschoolshaveshownthatcompliancewithroutinetaskscanfallawaywithinoneheavyshift.Theirstudy'sfocuswashandhygiene,healthcare'smundanebutpowerfulweaponagainstcross-infection.Suchistheimportanceofsanitisation—whendonethoroughly,itcanreduceinfectionbytheMRSA"superbug"by95percent—thathospitalshavestartedtomonitorcompliance,usingelectronictagsinsanitisersandworkers'badges.Eachtimeamemberofstaffskipsthesanitiser,theomissionislogged.TheextraordinarilyrichanonymisedinformationfromsuchasystemisatreasuretroveforbigdataresearcherssuchasWharton'sKatherineMilkman.Analysing13.8million"uniquehandhygieneopportunities"formorethan4,000staffat35hospitals,sheandherco-authorsfoundthatovera12-hourshiftcompliancebyanaveragestaffmemberfellby8.5percentagepoints.Laxhandwashing,theysuggest,couldbecosting$25billionannuallyintreatmentofunnecessaryinfectionintheUS—andleadingto70,000needlessdeaths.AsProf.Milkmanexplainedtomelastweek,thefactthatintenseworkmakesithardertodolessimportanttaskscouldhaveprofoundimplicationsinotherwalksoflife.Thestudypointsoutthat"thesedeviationsposeathreattothewellbeingoforganizations,employeesandclients,becausesuchviolationscanreducethequalityofproductsproducedandservicesprovidedaswellascreatinganunsafeworkenvironment".Suddenly,itisalittleclearerwhytheexhaustedM&Abankerskipspartsoftheethicalcodeherbankinsistson,orwhythetiredlorrydriverjumpsthelightstomakeittothedepotontime.Theworkcouldoffercluesabouthowtomakesurethesteeplejackalwayscheckshisharness,evenonthefinalascentoftheskyscraper,andthewearyjournalistreadsthroughherstoryforpossibleerrorsondeadline.

Not too many decades ago it seemed "obvious" both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people's natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances. However, in recent years a growing body of research has revealed that the "obvious" is not true. It seems that if you are a city resident, you typically know a smaller proportion of your neighbors than you do if you are a resident of a smaller community. But, for the most part, this fact has few significant consequences. It does not necessarily follow that if you know few of your neighbors you will know no one else. Even in very large cities, people maintain close social ties within small, private social worlds. Indeed, the number and quality of meaningful relationships do not differ between more and less urban people. Small-town residents are more involved with kin than are big-city residents. Yet city dwellers compensate by developing friendships with people who share similar interests and activities. Urbanism may produce a different stifle of life, but the quality of life does not differ between town and city. Nor are residents of large communities any likelier to display psychological symptoms of stress or alienation, a feeling of not belonging, than are residents of smaller communities. However, city dwellers do worry more about crime, and this leads them to a distrust of strangers. These findings do not imply that urbanism makes little or no difference. If neighbors are strangers to one another, they are less likely to sweep the sidewalk of an elderly couple living next door or keep an eye out for young trouble makers. Moreover, as Wirth suggested, there may be a link between a community's population size and its social heterogeneity. For instance, sociologists have found much evidence that the size of a community is associated with bad behavior including gambling, drags, etc. Large-city urbanites are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional kinship roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be tolerant of nontraditional religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so-called undesirables. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behavior seem to be outcomes of large population size.

Suppose you want to apply for a part-time job in your university as a teaching assistant. Write a self-recommendation letter to 1) apply for the job, and 2) earn a chance of an interview for yourself You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address.

You are going to take part in MBA exam. Write a letter of inquiry to the dean of Management School to inquire about: 1)the subjects to be examed; 2)the number of students to be enrolled; 3)other things you should pay attention to. You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write the address.(10 points)

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

Bill Gates was 20 years old. Steve Jobs was 21. Warren Buffett was 26. Ralph Lauren was 28. Estee Lauder was 29. These now iconic names were all 20-somethings when they started their companies that would throw them, and their enterprises, into some of the biggest successes ever known. Consider this: many of the truly remarkable innovations of the latest generation—a list that includes Google, Facebook and Twitter—were all founded by people under 30. The number of people in their mid-20s disrupting entire industries, taking on jobs usually reserved for people twice their age and doing it in the glare of millions of social media "followers" seems to be growing very rapidly. So what is it about that youthful decade after those awkward teenage years that inspires such shoot-for-the-moon success? Does age really have something to do with it? It does . Young people bring fresh eyes to confronting problems and challenges that others have given up on. 20-something entrepreneurs see no boundaries and see no limits. And they can make change happen. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, has another, colder theory that may explain it: Ultimately, it's about money. In other words, it's the young people who have nothing to lose, with no mortgage and, frankly, with nothing to do on a Friday night except work, who are the ones often willing to take the biggest risks. Sure, they are talented. But it's their persistence and zeal, the desire to stay up until 6 a.m. chugging Red Bull, that is the difference between being a salaried employee and an entrepreneur. That's not to say that most 20-somethings are finding success. They're not. The latest crop of uber-successful young entrepreneurs, designers and authors are far, far from the norm. In truth, unemployment for workers age 16 to 24 is double the national average. One of the biggest challenges facing this next generation—and one that may prevent more visionary entrepreneurs from succeeding—is the staggering rise in the level of debt college students have been left with. If Peter Thiel's theory is right, it is going to be harder and harder for young people to take big risks because they will be crushed with obligations before they even begin. If you're over 29 years old and still haven't made your world-changing mark, don't despair. Some older people have had big breakthroughs, too. Thomas Edison didn't invent the phonograph until he was 30.

I can tap my smartphone and a cab will arrive almost immediately. Another tap will tell me the latest news, value my share portfolio or give me route directions to my next meeting. As a result, I do not need to stand on a street corner vainly trying to hail a taxi to the theatre, lose myself in London streets. The changes that have occurred in the past decade have, from an economic perspective, increased at virtually no cost the efficiency of household production. The data framework within which economic analysis is conducted is largely the product of the second world war. In the 1930s American economist Simon Kuznets began to elaborate a system of national accounts. That work was given impetus when the war led governments to take control of important sectors of economic activity. It was soon realized that this required far better data than had previously existed, which in turn raised the challenge of how best to structure such information. Household production—women' s work as homemakers—did not have much of a look-in; that was not the front line against fascism. The joke about the man who reduced national income by marrying his housekeeper, so that a market transaction became part of household production, was once a mandatory part of every introductory course on national income accounting but has succumbed to political correctness. Technological advance has always enhanced household as well as business efficiency. Our domestic productivity has benefited from washing machines, vacuum cleaners and central heating, and before that from electric light and automobiles. But at least these things were partially accounted for: from an economic perspective a car is a faster and cheaper horse. Statisticians in principle incorporated these improvements in the efficiency of consumer goods into their measurement of productivity, though in practice they did not try very hard. But the technological advances of the past decade seem to have increased the efficiency of households, rather than the efficiency of businesses, to an unusual extent. An ereader in the pocket replaces a roomful of books, and all the world' s music is streamed to my computer. We look at aggregate statistics and worry about the slowdown in growth and productivity. But the evidence of our eyes seems to tell a different story.

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

The percentage of immigrants (including those unlawfully present) in the United States has been creeping upward for years. At 12.6 percent, it is now higher than at any point since the mid-1920s. We are not about to go back to the days when Congress openly worried about inferior races polluting America's bloodstream. But once again we are wondering whether we have too many of the wrong sort of newcomers. Their loudest critics argue that the new wave of immigrants cannot, and indeed do not want to, fit in as previous generations did. We now know that these racist views were wrong. In time, Italians, Romanians and members of other so-called inferior races became exemplary Americans and contributed greatly, in ways too numerous to detail, to the building of this magnificent nation. There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same success. Although children of Mexican immigrants do better, in terms of educational and professional attainment, than their parents, UCLA sociologist Edward Telles has found that the gains don't continue. Indeed, the fourth generation is marginally worse off than the third. James Jackson, of the University of Michigan, has found a similar trend among black Caribbean immigrants, Telles fears that Mexican-Americans may be fated to follow in the footsteps of American blacks—that large parts of the community may become mired (陷入) in a seemingly permanent state of poverty and underachievement. Like African-Americans, Mexican-Americans are increasingly relegated to(降入) segregated(隔离) , substandard schools, and their dropout rate is the highest for any ethnic group in the country. We have learned much about the foolish idea of excluding people on the presumption of the ethnic/racial inferiority. But what we have not yet learned is how to make the process of Americanization work for all. I am not talking about requiring people to learn English or to adopt American ways; those things happen pretty much on their own. But as arguments about immigration heat up the campaign trail, we also ought to ask some broader questions about assimilation (同化), about how to ensure that people, once outsiders, don't forever remain marginalized within these shores. That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented workers, or how best to secure the border, and it is one that affects not only newcomers but groups that have been here for generations. It will have more impact on our future than where we decide to set the admissions bar for the latest wave of would-be Americans. And it would be nice if we finally got the answer right.

How long you live has a lot to do with your environment and lifestyle, but exceptional longevity may have even more to do with your genes. For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic recipe that accurately predicts who may live to 100 and beyond. Scientists led by Dr. Thomas Perls at the Boston University School of Medicine conducted a genetic analysis of more than 1,000 centenarians and their matched controls and found 150 genetic variants—or bits of DNA—that differed between the two groups. These variants identified people who lived to a very old age (past 100) with 77% accuracy, researchers found. Further analysis identified 19 distinct genetic profiles associated with extremely long life; 90% of participants who lived to 100 possessed at least one of the signature genetic clusters. Each profile appeared to confer a different tendency to develop common age-related chronic diseases, such as heart disease or brain disorder. "We realize this is a complex genetic puzzle," Perls said. "We're quite a ways away still in understanding how the integration of these genes—not just with themselves but with environmental factors—are playing a role in this longevity puzzle." Perls has studied many factors that contribute to longevity, and he is the first to acknowledge that living longer isn' t likely to be simply a matter of genes. His previous work has shown, for example, that among most elderly people who live into their 70s and 80s, about 70% of their longevity can be ascribed to environmental factors such as not smoking; eating a healthy, low-fat, low-calorie diet; and remaining socially engaged and intellectually active throughout life. Still, it seems clear that those who live to an exceptionally ripe old age are benefiting from a special DNA boost. In fact, Perls believes that the older a person gets, the more likely it is that his or her genes are contributing to those extended years. His current genetic findings support that theory: the 19 most common genetic profiles that distinguished the exceptionally long-lived appear to be correlated with lower incidence of certain diseases. For example, some profiles were associated with lower rates of high blood pressure and diabetes, while another was linked to a reduced risk of brain disorder. Although most of us can't expect to become centenarians, Perls is hoping that his work will lead to better ways—perhaps through pharmaceutical interventions based on the genetic clues to longevity—to help more of us live like them.

Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart,inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

The coast of the state of Maine is one of the most irregular in the world. A straight line running from the southernmost coastal city to the northernmost coastal city would measure about 225 miles. If you followed the coastline between these points, you would travel more than ten times as far. This irregularity is the result of what is called a drowned coastline. The term comes from the glacial activity of the ice age. At that time, the whole area that is now Maine was part of a mountain range that towered above the sea. As the glacier descended, however, it expended enormous force on those mountains, and they sank into the sea. As the mountains sank, ocean water charged over the lowest parts of the remaining land, forming a series of twisting inlets and lagoons of contorted grottos and nooks. The highest parts of the former mountain range, nearest the shore, remained as islands. Mt. Desert Island is one of the most famous of all the islands left behind by the glacier. Marine fossils found here were 225 feet above sea level, indicating the level of the shoreline prior to the glacier. The 2,500-mile-long rocky and jagged coastline of Maine keeps watch over nearly two thousand islands. Many of these islands are tiny and uninhabited, but many are home to thriving communities. Mt. Desert Island is one of the largest, most beautiful of the Maine coast islands. Measuring 16 miles by 12 miles, Mt. Desert was essentially formed as two distinct islands. It is split almost in half by Somes Sound, a deep and narrow stretch of water, seven miles long. For years, Mt. Desert Island, particularly its major settlement, Bar Harbor, afforded summer homes for the wealthy. Recendy though, Bar Harbor has become a burgeoning arts community as well. But, the best part of the island is the unspoiled forest land known as Acadia National Park. Because the island sits on the boundary line between the temperate and sub-Arctic zones, the island supports the flora and fauna of both zones as well as beach, inland, and alpine plants. It also lies in a major bird migration lane and is a resting spot for many birds. The establishment of Acadia National Park in 1916 means that this natural reserve will be perpetually available to all people, not just the wealthy. Visitors to Acadia may receive nature instruction from the park naturalists as well as enjoy camping, hiking, cycling , and boating. Or they may choose to spend time at the archeological museum, learning about the Stone Age inhabitants of the island. The best view on Mt. Desert Island is from the top of Cadillac Mountain. This mountain rises 1,532 feet, making it the highest mountain on the Adantic seaboard. From the summit, you can gaze back toward the mainland or out over the Atlantic Ocean and contemplate the beauty created by a retreating glacier.