Portable devices are becoming lighter and more appealing. Books are being (1)_____ into digital form by the thousands. The most important (2)_____ forward may be in "digital ink," the technology used for (3)_____ letters on a screen. A small company called E Ink has created a method for (4)_____ tiny black and white capsules into words and (5)_____ with an electronic charge. Because no power is used (6)_____ the reader changes the page, devices with the technology could go (7)_____ 20 books between battery charges. The text also looks just as (8)_____ as ink on a printed page. Sony is the first major player to take (9)_____ of the technology. This year. it will market the Sony Reader, which uses E Ink and closely (10)_____ the size, weight, and (11)_____ of a book. The Reader will sell (12)_____ about $400. Sony also will offer roughly 10,000 book (13)_____ for download from its online store, (14)_____ news stones. Other players try to catch the opportunity, too. At least two (15)_____ companies are introducing digital readers this year. And scores of companies, from Google to Random House Inc., are planning other ways to (16)_____ from digital books. All this (17)_____ to the influence of Apple Computer Inc.. With its iPod, Apple has (18)_____ that millions of people are willing to carry around digital devices with their favorite content, (19)_____ music, why not novels and nonfiction? According to one CEO with a large publishing company, the iPod led the way in getting people comfortable with a similar device for books. Such things are not only (20)_____, but a good idea.

Alan "Ace" Greenberg chose his nickname to improve his chances with girls at the University of Missouri. But it is an apt (1)_____ of his wading skills on Wall Street. This week, as the 73-year-old (2)_____ down (3)_____ chairman of Bear Stearns, the investment bank where he has worked since 1949 is in a high. It (4)_____ an increase in post-tax profits in the second quarter of 43% on a year earlier, (5)_____ a time when many of its Wall Street rivals have (6)_____. On June 26th Merrill Lynch (7)_____ a warning that its profits in the second quarter would fall by half, far (8)_____ of expectations. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have also reported lower profits. Strange that this surprised. (9)_____ Alan Greenspan"s frenetic cuts (10)_____ interest rates, times are good for underwriters and waders of bonds, core activities for Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, (11)_____ also recorded a sharp increase in profits. It has been a terrible (12)_____ for equity underwriters and for advisers on the small amounts of mergers and acquisitions (M＆A) this year. Merrill, Goldman and Morgan Stanley are three of the investment banks that gained (13)_____ during the boom in equity and M＆A business, and they are now (14)_____ the most. Of the three, Merrill is weakest in bonds. It cut (15)_____ its fixed-income activities after the collapse of Lung-Term Capital Management (LTCM) in 1998. As it happens, both Bear Stearns and Lehman have long been criticised for their weakness in equities. Mr. Greenberg is famous for worrying about even the price of a paper-clip at Bear Stearns. This used to seem terribly (16)_____,but these days other Wall Street firms are (17)_____ about costs. Lay-offs are (18)_____ though not yet alarmingly—not least, because banks saw how Merrill Lynch lost (19)_____ when the markets rebounded quickly after the LTCM crisis. Still, if few (20)_____ of improvement show soon, expect real blood-letting on Wall Street.

In 1575—over 400 years ago the French scholar Louis Le Roy published a learned book in which he voiced despair over the changes caused by the social and technological innovations of his time, what we now call the Renaissance. We, also, feel that our times are out of joint; we even have reason to believe that our descendants will be worse off than we are. The earth will soon be overcrowded and its resources exhausted. Pollution will ruin the environment, upset the climate and endanger human health. The gap in living standards between the rich and the poor will widen and lead the angry, hungry people of the world to acts of desperation including the use of nuclear weapons as blackmail. Such are the inevitable consequences of population and technological growth if present trends continue. The future is never a projection of the past. Animals probably have no chance to escape from the tyranny of biological evolution, but human beings are blessed with the freedom of social evolution. For us, trend is not destiny (fate). The escape from existing trends is now facilitated by the fact that societies anticipate future dangers and take preventive steps against expected changes. Despite the widespread belief that the world has become too complex for comprehension by the human brain; modern societies have often responded effectively to critical situations. The decrease in birth rates, the partial prohibition of pesticides and the rethinking of technologies for the production and use of energy are but a few examples illustrating a sudden reversal of trends caused not by political upsets or scientific breakthroughs, but by public awareness of consequences. Even more striking are the situations in which social attitudes concerning future difficulties undergo rapid changes before the problems have come to pass—witness the heated arguments about the problems of behavior control and of genetic engineering even though there is as yet no proof that effective methods can be developed to manipulate behavior and genes on a population scale. One of the characteristics of our times is thus the rapidity with which steps can be taken to change the orientation of certain trends and even to reverse them. Such changes usually emerge from grass root movements rather than from official directives.Notes:Renaissance (14—15世纪欧洲)文艺复兴(时期)。tyranny 暴虐统治；暴虐行为。are blessed with幸有；有幸得到。but a few 只是几个。come to pass 发生，实现。as yet 至今。grass root 群众。

BSection III Writing/B

CanMedicinesMakeYouHealthy?Writeanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthedrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)interpretitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.

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

BeYourselforaCloneBeauty?Writeanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthefollowingdrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.

【F1】 Genetic variation derives from several sources and provides only the raw materials of evolution; random variation can only have a disrupting effect on genetic equilibrium unless deleterious combinations of genes are eliminated and advantageous ones are preserved. The process by which this occurs is called natural selection.【F2】 Although Darwin is credited with the first full statement of the theory of evolution through natural selection, the origins of the concept are deeply rooted in European thought and may be traced to the early 17 th century. Indeed, the practices of artificial selection of domesticated plants and animals, which so influenced Darwin, can be traced at least as far as the Romans and perhaps even to Neolithic(New Stone Age)times. The theory of natural selection can be stated as follows: All living things vary and reproduce themselves many times, yet the number of a given group tends to remain constant. Therefore there is a competition for survival, and only those most adapted to external conditions survive. In essence, the idea of natural selection is statistical; those members of a population who are most evolutionarily fit are those who will leave the greatest number of offspring.【F3】 These will not be the only members of the population to leave offspring, but it is probable, in a statistical sense, that they will leave more living descendants in the long run than the less well-adapted members of the population. Fitness therefore refers to a population"s ability to cope successfully with a particular environment at a particular time; it is tied to time and place in an absolute way.【F4】 The factors that help determine the course and direction of evolution are many; predation and disease, migration and conflict, behaviour and temperament, competition for breeding space and mates, and competition for living space and food. 【F5】 Purely physical factors in the environment are no less important; stability or instability of the climate; solar radiation; natural disaster; pollution of the soil, water, and air—all will have their effect and take their toll on living groups. Evolution is not, therefore, something that has occurred and been completed. Any population is constantly evolving, assimilating changes and variations in its gene pool in response to stimuli from a large number of sources—some that are recognized and some that are not.

MadeinChinavs.CreatedinChinaWriteanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthedrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.

track and field

It is acknowledged that the modern musical show is America' s most original and dynamic contribution toward theater. In the last quarter of a century, America has produced large 【B1】______ of musical plays that have been popular abroad 【B2】______ at home.【B3】______, it is very difficult to explain 【B4】______ is new or 【B5】______ American about them, for the 【B6】______ are centuries old. Perhaps the uniqueness of America's contribution to the 【B7】______ can best be characterized through brief descriptions of several of the most important and best-known musicals. One of these is surely Oklahoma by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hamerstein. It burst 【B8】______ popularity in 1943. Broadway audience and critics were【B9】______by its【B10】______, vitality and excitement. This "new" type of musical was【B11】______as kind of【B12】______theater in which the play, the music and lyrics, the dancing, and the scenic background were assembled not merely to provide entertainment and【B13】______, but to【B14】______in a single unifying whole to contribute to its unique feature.【B15】______, it meant that the songs and dances should【B16】______naturally out of the situations of the story and play an important part in carrying the action【B17】______. In Oklahoma, an American folk-dance style was organically combined with classical ballet and modern dance. It is right to say that the musical was a brilliantly integrated performance by the talented dancers and singing actors. Oklahoma also marked a new【B18】______in the choice of story on which a musical is based. Writers and composers began to abandon the sentimentally picturesque or aristocratic setting【B19】______more realistic stories in authentic social and cultural【B20】______. Oklahoma was based on a "folk" whose story dealt not only with young love but also with the opening of the American West.

Writeanessayof160—200wordsbasedonthefollowingdrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)supportyourviewwithanexample/examples.Youshouldwriteneatly.

One of the most interesting of all studies is the study of words and word origins. Each language is【B1】______of several earlier languages and the words of a language can sometimes be traced【B2】______through two or three different languages to their 【B3】______. Again a word from one language may pass into other languages and【B4】______a new meaning. The word "etiquette", which is 【B5】______ French origin and originally meant a label, 【B6】______ a sign, passed into Spanish and kept its original meaning. So in Spanish the word "etiquette" today is used to【B7】______the small tags which a store【B8】______to a suit, a dress or a bottle. The word "etiquette" in French, 【B9】______, gradually developed a different meaning. It【B10】______became the custom to write directions on small cards, or "etiquette", as to how visitors should dress themselves and【B11】______during an important ceremony at the royal court.【B12】______the word "etiquette" began to indicate a system of correct manners for people to follow. 【B13】______this meaning, the word passed into English. Consider the word "breakfast". "To fast" is to go for some period of time without【B14】______. Thus in the morning after many hours【B15】______the night without food, one【B16】______one' s fast. Consider the everyday English【B17】______"Good-bye". Many many years ago, people would say to each other【B18】______parting "God be with you." As this was【B19】______over and over millions of times, it gradually became【B20】______to "Good-bye".

Alcohol may taste sweeter if you were exposed to it before birth, suggests a study in rats. The findings may shed new light【C1】______why human studies have previously【C2】______fetal alcohol exposure to increased alcohol【C3】______later in life, and to a【C4】______age at which a person【C5】______starts drinking alcohol. Alcohol"s taste is a(n) 【C6】______of sweet and bitter components. To【C7】______whether prenatal alcohol exposure could【C8】______the perception of these components, Steven Youngentob at the State University of New York in Syracuse and John Glendinning at Columbia University in New York【C9】______how eagerly rats consumed alcohol, sweet water【C10】______bitter water. They found that young rats whose mothers had consumed alcohol during pregnancy【C11】______alcohol and consumed more of the bitter water than the【C12】______of mothers that didn"t consume alcohol. Rats that had been exposed to alcohol before birth also seemed to be more【C13】______to the smell of alcohol. Prenatal exposure seems to reduce the【C14】______bitterness of alcohol, making it seem【C15】______, says Youngentob. Both of these differences seemed to【C16】______once the rats reached adulthood—but【C17】______they hadn"t tasted alcohol during their youth. If prena-tally exposed rats did consume alcohol in their youth, these preferences seemed to become【C18】______for life. "The take-home message is to keep kids away from【C19】______for as long as possible—【C20】______if they have had prenatal exposure," says Youngentob.

Although Henry Ford"s name is closely associated with the concept of mass production, he should receive equal credit for introducing labor practices as early as 1913 that would be considered advanced even by today"s standards. Safety measures were improved, and the workday was reduced to eight hours, compared with the ten-or-twelve-hour day common at the time. In order to accommodate the shorter work day, the entire factory was converted from two to three shifts. In addition, sick leaves as well as improved medical care for those injured on the job were instituted. (47) The Ford Motor Company was one of the first factories to develop a technical school to train specialized skilled laborers and an English language school for immigrants. Some efforts were even made to hire the handicapped and provide jobs for former convicts. (48) The most widely acclaimed innovation was the five-dollar-a-day minimum wage that was offered in order to recruit and retain the best mechanics and to discourage the growth of labor unions. Ford explained the new wage policy in terms of efficiency and profit sharing. He also mentioned the fact that his employees would be able to purchase the automobiles that they produced—in effect creating a market for the product. (49) In order to qualify for the minimum wage, an employee had to establish a decent home and demonstrate good personal habits,including sobriety,thriftiness,industriousness,and dependability. (50) Although some criticism was directed at Ford for involving himself too much in the personal lives of his employees,there can be no doubt that,at a time when immigrants were being taken advantage of in frightful ways,henry Ford was helping many people to establish themselves in America.

The decision of the American Medical Association (AMA) to classify obesity as a disease is great news for the pharmaceutical industry, as it is likely to increase pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve more weight-loss drugs and increase the odds that insurance companies will reimburse their cost. But it is deeply misleading. Treating obesity as a disease implies that moving into the category of obesity, which for adults means moving from a body-mass index (BMI) of 29 to a BMI of 30, is equivalent to contracting a disease. But that is simply not the case. Yes, there are certain health risks associated with having an elevated BMI, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. More broadly, a higher BMI is associated with a greater risk of cardiometa-bolic abnormalities. Nonetheless, almost one quarter of "normal weight" people also have metabolic abnormalities, and more than half of "overweight" and almost one third of "obese" people have normal profiles, according to a 2008 study. That's 16 million normal-weight Americans who have metabolic abnormalities and 20 million obese (or 56 million overweight and obese) Americans who have no such abnormalities. One explanation for this discrepancy is that physical fitness and/or nutrition—rather than weight per se—may be what really matters. Several studies have shown that physically fit "obese" individuals have lower incidence of heart disease and mortality from all causes than do sedentary people of "normal" weight. A recent clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that adopting a Mediterranean diet reduced cardiovascular risk independent of weight loss. Some assume that the problem lies with BMI as a measure, which does not distinguish between fat, muscle and bone. While BMI is indeed a flawed measure, it is not clear that there are better ones. A 2009 study also found no systematic differences between BMI and other variables. In other words, it is not just that BMI is a poor measure of obesity but that obesity is a poor predictor of health. Some hope that designating obesity as a disease will remove the stigma associated with it, and obese people will no longer be blamed for their condition. Yet already it is being called the "fork to mouth" disease, and the disease categorization may reinforce blame by raising the stakes. If obesity is a disease, parents of fat children may not merely be silently judged as bad parents but also accused of neglect and child endangerment. If the AMA's goal is to address the serious diseases of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, it would be more productive and accurate for the association to urge doctors to focus on cardiometabolic risk, recognizing that there are both metabolically healthy and metabolically unhealthy individuals in all categories of weight. Rather than promote weight loss per se, doctors should instead encourage their patients of all sizes to incorporate physical activity and a balanced diet into their lives.

Studythefollowingpicturecarefullyandwriteanessayto1)describethepicturebriefly,2)statetheriskscausedbyspeeding,and3)suggestpossiblemeasuresagainstspeeding.Youshouldwriteabout160—200wordsneatly.Notes:Nosweat!没什么!

Writeanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthefollowingdrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,andthen3)giveyourcomments.YoushouldwriteneatlyontheANSWERSHEET.(20points)

It is not quite Benidorm yet, but Antarctica has become an increasingly popular destination for the more adventurous tourist. In this year"s southern-hemisphere summer season, running from November to March, as many as 39,000 visitors are expected to make the trip from Tierra del Fuego, the nearest jumping-off point to the world"s emptiest continent. That amounts to a fourfoldincrease in a decade. officials in both Chile and Argentina are getting increasingly worried about the risk of a fatal accident—"a new Titanic" as one Chilean naval officer puts it. Nobody has died so far, but there have been some near-collisions. In 2007 more than 150 people were evacuated when their ship, the Explorer, sank after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. They were "very lucky with the weather", says Chile"s deputy minister for the navy, Carolina Echeverria. That was one of only two accidents last season, with a similar number the previous year and one so far this season. Help is usually not far away. Although cruise ships plan their route so as to keep out of each other"s sight, there are generally 20 to 30 boats heading to or from the Antarctic Peninsula on any one day. Even so, surviving an accident is something of a lottery. It depends partly on the weather. Not all the ships have the covered lifeboats recommended for polar conditions. Small boats, like the Explorer, have a better chance of being able to transfer their passengers if they get into difficulties. But some cruise ships visiting Antarctica now carry almost 3,000 passengers—more than ten times the limit that offers a reasonable chance of timely rescue, according to Chile"s navy. The navy is annoyed about the cost of patrols, rescue operations and cleaning up fuel spills. It wants legally binding rules, backed by penalties, for Antarctic cruise ships. But that is hard to achieve. Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty no country can exercise sovereignty over any part of the continent and its waters are international. Some rules on tourism have been written under the treaty: cruise ships carrying over 500 passengers cannot make landings, for example. But these are not legally enforceable. Neither will be rules being debated by the United Nations" International Maritime Organization on safety requirements. Some tour operators say they would welcome tighter regulation and higher safety standards. Others insist that safety is already adequate. The world recession may place a temporary brake on the trade. But Chilean officials reckon that the trend to big cruise ships, with their cheaper fares, will resume once recovery comes. If so, a tragedy may be only a matter of time.

With Japan"s welfare system buckling under the demands of an ageing society, the world"s oldest man apologized yesterday for his longevity. As Tomoji Tanabe, 111, received his certificate from Guinness World Records, the former engineer, who never touches alcohol, said that his feat of survival was nothing special. "I have been around too long," he joked, "I am sorry." Mr. Tanabe added his customary explanation of how he has managed to reach such a ripe old age: "Not drinking alcohol is the best formula for keeping myself healthy," he said. Other residents of his village attributed Mr. Tanabe"s long life to a diet that consists chiefly of vegetables and very little fried food. His explanation fuels a continuing mystery about the ideal formula for longevity—as each new holder of the title is crowned, each attributes his or her success to diets, lifestyles and habits that differ widely. Some have said that fresh air is the key, others have been heavy smokers. Some have taken vigorous exercise, others have sworn by periods of inactivity. The Mayor of Miyakonojo, the village where Mr. Tanabe lives with his family, presented the certificate to its famous resident after nearly five months of birthdate verification by the Guinness World Records team. Mr. Tanabe unofficially inherited the title when its previous record-holder, Emiliano Mer-cado del Toro, of Puerto Rico, died in January, aged 115. The crowning of Mr. Tanabe, who was born in the southern island of Kyushi in 1895, brings the desired "double trophy" back to Japan. Yone Minagawa, who lives in the same area, is 114 and holds the title of world"s oldest woman. Japan"s population of the centenarians is the largest in the world. Most of the 28,000 Japanese who have made it beyond 100 are women and the highest concentration of the very elderly is in the southern part. The area around Hiroshima and the island of Okinawa are especially rich in former "world"s oldest" title holders. The number of centenarians has risen 160-fold since records began in the 1960s. Although Japan is proud of its record-breaking longevity, the success of Mr. Tanabe comes as the country is running short of ideas for how to solve its ageing crisis. With the fertility rate still at record lows, government and private sector efforts to stimulate the birthrate have met with little success. As the number of children decreases, the future welfare burden for working-age Japanese may become intolerably large.