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For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then discuss the significance of a healthy diet. You should give sound arguments to support your views and write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

生肖 (Chinese Zodiac)是指代表着每个人出生年份的十二种动物。它是中国民间计算年龄的方法，也是一种古老的 纪年法 (chronology)。生肖的产生可能源于古代人对动物的崇拜。关于人们为什么选择这十二种动物，以及为什么按照这样的顺序排列，有许多传说，但并没有定论。有些人会把性格和命运跟生肖联系起来，这是没有科学依据的。中国邮政在每年新年之初都会发行生肖邮票。中国人过年的时候，也喜欢在家门贴上印有生肖的年画。

Offering a gift can be a mutual pleasure; some might say it should be a pleasure for giver and recipient. A problem with a modern commercial Christmas, however, is that buying gifts can become a chore. Often it is a stress ridden chore in the dying days before Christmas Day, as everything gets left to the last minute. Why not make this next Christmas a time to make the choosing of individual gifts a pleasure for yourself, and for the recipient? Often in the last minute haste to buy gifts in time for Christmas Day, people become detached from not only the purpose, but the person to whom they are giving. Bought hastily in a crowded stress filled store, scarcely a thought may pass for the individual on the receiving end, however close they may be to you. Most of the year, if not all, can be filled with work, commuting, rushing here and there, stress, and self focus. How about time and attention for those who really matter in your life, whether spouse, offspring, other relatives, friends or colleagues? The choosing of a gift, and presentation of it, can be a silent way of giving each of them special attention, and then culminating with their pleasure at the receipt of the gift. Behind every good present there is a person who worked hard to make the best choice. The secret to buying the perfect gift is to think about the message you want to send out, when the receiver opens it. If you think about his or her hobbies, to his or her vacation plans etc., it means you have really studied that person and you bought the present precisely for them, for that occasion; in this case, Christmas. Friendship and caring are themselves a gift, so you can see that if you put some real selfless effort into choosing gifts, the value of the gift is magnified. That is something which will shine through the wrapping paper, and in the moment of giving the pleasure that you feel in making the gesture will radiate in the warmth of your expression. The choosing and the giving of a gift are inseparable.

Most growing plants contain much more water than all other materials combined. C. R. Barnes has suggested that it is as proper to term the plant a water structure as to call a house composed mainly of brick a brick building. Certain it is that all essential processes of plant growth and development occur in water. The mineral elements from the soil that are usable by the plant must be dissolved in the soil solution before they can be taken into the root. They are carried to all parts of the growing plant and are built into essential plant materials while in a dissolved state. The carbon dioxide(CO 2 )from the air may enter the leaf as a gas but is dissolved in water in the leaf before it is combined with a part of the water to form simple sugars—the base material from which the plant body is mainly built. Actively growing plant parts are generally 75 to 90 percent water. Structural parts of plants, such as woody stems no longer actively growing, may have much less water than growing tissues. The actual amount of water in the plant at any one time, however, is only a very small part of what passes through it during its development. The processes of photosynthesis, by which carbon dioxide and water are combined—in the presence of chlorophyll(叶绿素)and with energy derived from light—to form sugars, require that carbon dioxide from the air enter the plant. This occurs mainly in the leaves. The leaf surface is not solid but contains great numbers of minute openings, through which the carbon dioxide enters. The same structure that permits the one gas to enter the leaf, however, permits another gas—water vapor—to be lost from it. Since carbon dioxide is present in the air only in trace quantities(3 to 4 parts in 10,000 parts of air)and water vapor is near saturation in the air spaces within the leaf(at 80°F, saturated air would contain about 186 parts of water vapor in 10,000 parts of air), the total amount of water vapor lost is many times the carbon dioxide intake. Actually, because of wind and other factors, the loss of water in proportion to carbon dioxide intake may be even greater than the relative concentrations of the two gases. Also, not all of the carbon dioxide that enters the leaf is synthesized into carbohydrates(碳水化合物).

七夕节是在农历七月初七庆祝的，也被称作“ 乞巧节 (Begging for Skills Festival)”。在中国有很多关于七夕节起源的民间传说，其中最广为流传的是 牛郎和织女 (Cowherd and Weaver Girl)的故事。传说每年的这一天他们会走上 鹊桥 (the magpie bridge)相会。因此。七夕节是中国传统节日中最具浪漫色彩的节日，常被称作中国的情人节。七夕节主要的民俗。就是女孩子们参加各种乞巧活动。据说织女是一个美丽聪明、心灵手巧的人，所以女孩子们在这天夜里会聚在一起，向织女乞求让自己心灵手巧，俗称“乞巧”。

黄果树大瀑布高度为77．8米，宽101米，其中主瀑高67米，顶宽83．3米，是世界上唯一可以从各个方位观赏的瀑布。

BPart II Listening Comprehension/B

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阅读理解Passage Two Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage

阅读理解What Selectivity Means for You Understanding Admission Factors College admission officers across most of the nation report the same news: The number of applicants is rising, making admission more competitive. Remember, "more selective" doesn''t mean "better." Our society often associates exclusivity with higher value, but that notion isn''t true for college. Find match with your interests, objectives, characteristics, and needs. Why Are Applications Increasing? The increase comes from a surge in births during the 1980s. Children of the baby boomers are coming of age. Experts predict applications will continue to rise faster than openings at most colleges through about 2010. "Most schools are a little more selective than they were maybe 10 years ago," says Joan Isaac-Mohr, Vice President and Dean of Admissions at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. This can mean more pressure for students going through the application process. Benefits of Increased Selectivity There''s a silver lining. As Isaac-Mohr points out, increased selectivity means better students are going to all colleges, broadening your choice of schools with a high-achieving student population. The number of applicants is rising, making admission more competitive. Ann Wright, Vice President for Enrollment at Rice University in Texas, agrees. "There are lots of schools where students can be happy and successful," she says. Both experts encourage students and parents to consider a range of schools, rather than focusing on a single institution. Community colleges, for example, can allow you to spend two years improving grades or selecting a career focus before transferring to a four-year university. While you might be taught by a graduate student at a large university, teachers at community colleges are usually professors who primarily want to teach, not conduct research. Smaller class sizes and more access to professors at small public or private colleges can be a boost to students, while some may prefer the energy and variety of a large university. It''s important for you to determine your needs and academic interests and select five or six schools that make a good fit. What Are Colleges Looking For? As you prepare application materials, it can help to know what schools are really looking for in the piles of paperwork. Admission officers evaluate applications in different ways, depending on how selective, or competitive, their college is. The Levels of Selectivity At one extreme are "open admission" colleges. These schools require only a high school diploma and accept students on a first-come, first-served basis. Many community colleges have this policy. At the other extreme are very selective colleges. They admit only a small percentage of applicants each year. Most colleges fall somewhere in between -- Less Selective: As many as 10 or 15 students apply for each spot at very selective schools. Less selective colleges focus on whether applicants meet minimum requirements and whether there''s room for more students. Acceptable grades are often the only requirement beyond an interest in college study. The SAT I or ACT may be required, but test scores are usually used for course placement, not admission. --More Selective: More selective colleges consider course work, grades, test scores, recommendations, and essays. The major factor may be whether you are ready for college-level study. It''s possible to be denied admission because of a weakness or a lack of interest in higher education. --Very Selective: As many as 10 or 15 students apply for each spot at very selective schools. Admission officers look carefully at every aspect of a student''s high school experience, from academic strength to test scores. Since many applicants are strong academically, other factors — such as your essay - are critical. Although they receive a great deal of publicity, only a small number of colleges (fewer than 100) are this selective. Admission Factors Selective colleges consider these factors for admission: -courses taken -counselor/teacher recommendations -ethnicity -grades -application questions and essays -geographic location -grade point average -personal interview -alumni relationship -rank in class -activities outside the classroom -major/college applied to -admission test results -special talents and skills There''s no general agreement about which of these factors are ranked more important. However, most admission officers place the most weight on your high school record. How Important Are Extracurricular (课外的) Activities? The significance of activities has been exaggerated. While schools do consider them, they''re looking to see if you''ve shown a long-term commitment in one or two areas. Need-Blind Admission Most colleges have a need-blind admission policy. This means they decide whether to make an offer of admission without considering your family''s financial situation. Other colleges are MORE sensitive; they do consider your family''s financial situation in the admission process. These colleges know they can''t satisfy the financial aid needs of all applicants. Some schools use need-sensitive admission when deciding to accept a borderline student or to pull a student off of the waiting list. College Application FAQs Do I have a better chance of getting in if I apply early? Nadine K. Maxwell: Many students apply early decision because they believe that there is an advantage to applying early and that their chances of being admitted are greater. Actually this can vary from school to school and year to year and may depend upon the applicant pool at the school where you are applying. Do your homework first and check to see what percentage of the students in the previous graduating classes at your high school were admitted early decision to a specific college or university. Are you qualified to apply as early decision? If you are, and this is a school you really wish to attend, then apply early decision. How much time should I give my teachers to write letters of recommendation for me? Mary Lee Hoganson: Teachers should always receive a minimum of two weeks notice, prior to the postmark date. Be sure to ask in a way that allows a teacher to decline comfortably if he/she does not have time to do an adequate job. For example: "Do you feel you know me well enough, and do you have enough time to write a supportive letter of recommendation for me to..." Give the teacher a stamped envelope addressed to the college, along with any recommendation form provided by the college. I want to send additional material that I think will support my application? Is this OK? Nadine K. Maxwell: It depends on what you want to send. Most colleges and universities read hundreds or maybe thousands of applications, and they expect to find the information that they need to make an admissions decision about you in their specific application form. It is OK to send an additional letter of information to explain something that cannot be explained on the application forms, but other items that students sometimes send are not helpful and may be viewed as trying to distract the admissions staff from the actual application. Talk to your guidance counselor about any additional items that you are thinking about sending. Their knowledge and experience will be helpful to you in making this decision. Big size makes good college, is that right? Nadine K. Maxwell: Big universities clearly have many benefits, but there are also a few drawbacks. For example, while you may enroll in a course with a professor that is well-known in his or her field, more often than not the course will mostly be taught by teaching assistants (TAs). The more distinguished professors are often focused on conducting research, publishing their work, and overseeing graduate thesis projects. If you''re considering a large university, be sure to find out what percentage of classes are taught by TAs and how many are taught by professors. Another consideration is the red tape (烦琐的手续) often associated with big school administration. Though large universities offer countless courses, it''s not so easy to take anything you want. If you''re a psychology major, for example, taking a business course may require a half a dozen signatures or more. Again, when visiting the school, be sure to ask what is required in order to take courses outside of your major. Finally, while huge class sizes may be exciting for some, they can be overwhelming for others. Introductory classes at big colleges sometimes include hundreds of students, making it an intimidating environment to ask a question, and all too easy to fall asleep, unnoticed, in the back of a lecture hall.

阅读理解Passage One Perhaps it is time for farmers to put their feet up now that robots are used to inspect crops, dig up weeds, and now have become shepherds, too

阅读理解New dictionaries are needed because English has changed more in the past two generations than at any other time in its history. It has had to adapt to extraordinary cultural and technological changes, two world wars, unparalleled changes in transportation and communication, and unprecedented (史无前例的) movements of populations. More subtly, but pervasively, it has changed under the influence of mass education and the growth of democracy. As written English is used by increasing millions and for more reasons than ever before, the language has become more utilitarian (功利的, 实利的) and more informal. Every publication in America today includes pages that would appear, to the purist of forty years ago, unbuttoned gibberish (莫名其妙的). Not that they are; they simply show that you can''t hold the language of one generation up as a model for the next. It''s not that you mustn''t. You can''t. For example, in the issue in which Life stated editorially that it would follow the Second International, there were over forty words, constructions, and meanings which are in the Third International but not in the Second. The issue of the New York Times which hailed the Second International as the authority to which it would adhere and the Third International as a scandal and a betrayal which it would reject used one hundred and fifty-three separate words, phrases, and constructions which are listed in the Third International but not in the Second and nineteen others which are condemned in the Second. Many of them are used many times, more than three hundred such uses in all. The Washington Post, in an editorial captioned "Keep Your Old Webster''s," says, in the first sentence, "don''t throw it away," and in the second, "hang on to it." But the old Webster''s labels don''t "colloquial" and doesn''t include "hang on to," in this sense, at all. In short, all of these publications are written in the language that the Third International describes, even the very editorials which scorn it. And this is no coincidence, because the Third International isn''t setting up any new standards at all; it is simply describing what Life, the Washing-ton Post, and the New York Times are doing. Much of the dictionary''s material comes from these very publications, the Times, in particular, furnishing more of its illustrative quotations than any other newspaper.

阅读理解In 1637 the French philosopher-mathematician Rene Descartes predicted that it would never be possible to make a machine that thinks as humans do. In 1950, the British mathematician and computer pioneer Alan Turing declared that one day there would be a machine that could duplicate human intelligence in every way and prove it by passing a specialized test. In this test, a computer and a human hidden from view would be asked random identical questions. If the computer were successful, the questioner would be unable to distinguish the machine from the person by the answers. Inspired by Turing''s theory, the first conference on AI convened at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire in 1956. Soon afterwards an Al laboratory was started at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, two of the nation''s leading AI proponents. McCarthy also invented the Al computer language, Lisp; but by the early 1990s AI itself had not been achieved. However, logic programs called expert systems allow computers to "make decision" by interpreting data and selecting from among alternatives. Technicians can run programs used in complex medical diagnosis, language translation, mineral exploration, and even computer design. Machinery can outperform (胜过) humans physically. So, too, can computers outperform mental functions in limited areas notably, in the speed of mathematical calculations. For example, the fastest computers developed are able to perform roughly 10 billion calculations per second. But making more powerful computers will probably not be the way to create a machine capable of passing the Turing test: Computer programs operate according to set procedures, or logic steps, called algorithms. In addition, most computers do serial processing; operations of recognition and computation are performed one at a time. The brain works in a manner called paralleled processing, performing operations simultaneously. To achieve simulated parallel processing, some supercomputers have been made with multiple processors to follow several algorithms at the same time. Critics of the approach insist that solving a computation does not indicate understanding, something a person who solved a problem would have. Human reasoning is not based solely on rules of logic. It involves perception, awareness, emotional preference, values, evaluation experience, the ability to generalize and weigh options, and more. Some proponents of AI have, therefore, suggested that computers should be patterned after the human brain, which essentially consists of a network of nerve cells. By the early 1990s, the closest approximation to Al was a special silicon chip built to behave like a human brain cell. It was modeled after the internal workings of neurons in the human cerebral cortex. Unlike the conventional silicon chip, which works in digital mode, the new silicon chip works in analog mode, much the way a human brain cell works.

阅读理解Did the Ancient Greeks and Romans have a sense of fashion? Historians of dress have traditionally claimed that fashion in the modern sense did not exist in Greece and Rome, but this assertion rests upon a misconception of rather sophisticated Greco-Roman attitudes toward physical appearance, as well as upon definitions of "dress" and "fashion" that are too limited. As is abundantly clear from their art and literature, the ancients attached great importance to ideals of bodily perfection and to outward appearance in general. Both the Greeks and the Romans demonstrated, from their earliest history, an extraordinary awareness of the potential of the body (and various modifications that could be made to it) as a means of marking social, political, religious, and even moral distinctions, aside from the opportunities dress and body decoration represent for self-expression or the pursuit of beauty. The ancients manipulated the expressive potential of clothing and adornments in a myriad of contexts: in their rituals, in theatre, and in the political arena, as well as in literature. There is also considerable evidence of innovation, experimentation, and the determined expression of personal style, even in Republican Rome where societal norms or expectations were apparently rigid in regard to clothing, correct grooming(梳洗), or the use of jewelry, perfume or cosmetics. "Fashion" may be said to encompass any of four forms. First, there is a conscious manipulation of dress that strives for effect, a "momentary instance" of fashion, "fashion statement" or "fad". Second, fashion may designate innovations in dress that are more enduring than simple fads. Some of these changes occur abruptly, whether due to political upheavals, economic fluctuations, or even the sudden abundance (or scarcity) of certain materials; other innovations may develop more deliberately. Third is the phenomenon whereby styles in a particular area of dress change swiftly and repeatedly, with the new ones replacing the old in rapid succession. Finally, fashion may refer specifically to the use of such adornments as cosmetics, fragrance, and jewelry, whose primary purpose is to enhance a wearer''s natural features. Primarily considered the preserve of women, this aspect also plays a significant role in the lives of men, especially in the male-dominated societies of Greece and Rome, in which the "correct" appearance was often a necessary prerequisite to a man''s political success.

阅读理解Research on friendship has established a number of facts, some interesting, even useful. Did you know that the average student has 5～6 friends, or that a friend who was previously an enemy is liked more than one who has always been on the right side? Would you believe that physically attractive individuals are preferred as friends to those less comely, and is it fair that physically attractive defendants are less likely to be found guilty in court? Unfortunately, such titbits don''t tell us much more about the nature or the purpose of friendship. In fact, studies of friendship seem to implicate more complex factors. For example, one function friendship seems to fulfill is that supports the image we have of ourselves, and confirms the value of the attitudes we hold. Certainly we appear to project ourselves onto our friends; several studies have shown that we judge them to be more like us than they (objectively) are. This suggests that we ought to choose friends who are similar to us rather than those who would be complementary. In our experiment, some developing friendships were monitored amongst first-year students living in the same hostel. It was found that similarity of attitudes (towards politics, religion and ethics, pastimes and aesthetics) was a good predictor of what friendships would be established by the end of four months, though it has less to do with initial alliances not surprisingly, since attitudes may not be obvious on first inspection. There have also been studies of pairings, both voluntary (married couples) and forced (student roommates), to see which remained together and which split up. Again, the evidence seems to favor similarity rather than complementarity as an omen of successful relationship, though there is a complication: where marriage is concerned, once the field is narrowed down to potential mates who come from similar backgrounds and share a broad range of attitudes and values, a degree of complementarity Seems to become desirable. When a couple are not just similar but almost identical, something else seems to be needed. Similarity can breed contempt it; it has also been found that when we find others obnoxious, we dislike them more if they are like us than when they are dissimilar. The difficulty of linking friendship with similarity of personality probably reflects the complexity of our personalities: we have many facets and therefore require a disparate group of friends to support us. This of course can explain why we may have two close friends who have little in common, and indeed dislike each other. By and large, though, it looks as though we would do well to choose friends(and spouses) who resemble us. If this were not so, computer dating agencies would have gone out of business years ago.

阅读理解Genetic engineering holds great potential payoffs for farmers and consumers by making crops resistant to pests, diseases, and even chemicals used to kill surrounding weeds. But new research raises concerns that altering crops to withstand such threats may pose new risks from none other than the weeds themselves. This is due to the weeds ability to acquire genes from the neighboring agricultural crops. Researchers found that when a weed cross-breeds with a farm-cultivated relative and thus acquires new genetic traits possibly including artificial genes engineered to make the crop hardier the hybrid weed can pass along those traits to future generations. "The result may be very hardy, hard-to-kill weeds," said Allison Snow, a plant ecologist at Ohio State University in Columbus who conducted the experiments over the past six years along with two colleagues. They presented their results last week at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Madison, Wisconsin. The findings suggest that genetic engineering done with the aim of improving crops - giving them new genetic traits such as resistance to herbicides(除莠剂)or pests could ultimately have unintended and harmful consequences for the crops if weeds acquire the same trait and use it to out-compete the crops. "Gene movement from crops to their wild relatives is an ongoing process that can be ultimately harmful to crops," said Snow. The results of the experiments challenge a common belief that hybrids (杂种)gradually die out over several generations, Snow explained. "There has been an assumption that crop genes wouldn''t persist in crop-weed hybrids" because hybrids are thought to be less successful at reproducing, she said. However, Snow''s research contradicted this assumption: Hybrid wild radishes survived in all six generations that were grown since the study began. Although the genetic traits the scientists monitored were natural and not genetically engineered, the findings nonetheless suggest that artificial improvements introduced into crops through genetic engineering could spread to weeds and become permanent traits of the weed population. So strengthened, the weeds may pose a serious risk to the long-term health of agricultural crops. The danger exists in a number of crop plants including rice, sunflower, sorghum, squash, and carrots that are closely related to weeds with which they compete. Snow is concerned that the transfer of genes from crops to related weeds could rapidly render many herbicides (chemicals which kill weeds) ineffectual. That situation, she said, would be much like bacterial diseases acquiring resistance to antibiotics. Because plant hybrids arise in a single generation, however, it could happen much more quickly. "Modern agriculture is heavily dependent on herbicides," she said, "so people will notice when those don''t work anymore."

阅读理解what urgent action must be taken to realise the Paris climate agreement?

阅读理解The health-care economy is filled with unusual and even unique economic relationships. One of the least understood involves the peculiar roles of producer or "provider" and purchaser or "consumer" in the typical doctor-patient relationship. In most sectors of the economy, it is the seller who attempts to attract a potential buyer with various inducements of price, quality, and utility, and it is the buyer who makes the decision. Such condition, however, .does not prevail in most of the health-care industry. In the health-care industry, the doctor-patient relationship is the mirror image of the ordinary relationship between producer and consumer. Once an individual has chosen to see a physician and even then there may be no real choice -- it is the physician who usually makes all significant purchasing decisions: Whether the patient should return "next Wednesday", whether X-rays are needed, whether drugs should be prescribed, etc. It is a rare and sophisticated patient who will challenge such professional decisions or raise in advance questions about price, especially when the disease is regarded as serious. This is particularly significant in relation to hospital care. The physician must certify the need for hospitalization, determine what procedures will be performed, and announce when the patient may be discharged. The 15atient may be consulted about some of these decisions, but in the main it is the doctor''s judgments that are final. Little wonder then that in the eye of the hospital it is the physician who is the real "consumer". As a consequence, the medical staff represents the "power center" in hospital policy and decision-making, not the administration. Although usually there are in this situation four identifiable participants -- the physician, the hospital, the patient, and the payer (generally an insurance carrier or government) -- the physician makes the essential decision for all of them. The hospital becomes an extension of the physician; the payer generally meets most of the bills generated by the physician/hospital, and for the most part the patient plays a passive role. We estimate that about 75-80 percent of health-care expenditures are determined by physicians, not patients. For this reason, economy directed at patients or the general are relatively ineffective.