Acting is such an over-crowded profession that the only advice that should be given to a young person thinking of going on the stage is "Don't!". But it is useless to try to discourage someone who feels that he must act, though the chances of his becoming famous are slim. The normal way to begin is to go to a drama school. Usually only students who show promise and talent are accepted, and the course lasts two years. Then the young actor or actress takes up work with a repertory company, usually as an assistant stage manager. This means doing everything that there is to do in the theatre: painting scenery, looking after the furniture, taking care of the costumes, and even acting in very small parts. It is very hard work indeed. The hours are long and the salary is tiny. But young actors with the stage in their blood are happy, waiting for the chances of working with a better company, or perhaps in films or television. Of course, some people have unusual chances which lead to fame and success without this long and dull training. Connie Pratt, for example, was just an ordinary girl working in a bicycle factory. A film producer happened to catch sight of her one morning waiting at a bus stop, as he drove past in his big car. He told the driver to stop, and he got out to speak to the girl. He asked her if she would like to go to the film studio to do a test, and at first she thought he was joking. Then she got angry and said she would call the police. It took the producer twenty minutes to tell Connie that he was serious. Then an appointment was made for her to go to the studio the next day. The test was successful. They gave her some necessary lessons and within a few weeks she was playing the leading part opposite one of the most famous actors of the day. Of course, she was given a more dramatic name, which is now world-famous. But chances like this happen once in a blue moon!

Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic(边缘的)system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia. Aging is a frequent cause. As humans advance in age, the heart's action, as well as the walls of blood vessels, change. It is thought that too little blood reaching brain cells, and sometimes the lack of certain nutrients, causes the death of small portions of the brain. Old memories and new ones are kept in different portions of the brain, and many older people can recall events that took place years before while being unable to remember what they ate at their last meal. An inability to store or learn new information may also occur with advanced age. Several degenerative(退化的)diseases of old age can cause profound amnesia. Primarily in older men, transient(暂时的)global amnesia causes severe loss of memory for minutes or hours. This is a progressive condition about which little can be done. Alcoholism is another leading cause of amnesia. Many heavy drinkers cannot recall the events of the time when they were intoxicated. In alcoholism of long duration, the gradual deterioration of brain cells takes place, and memory can become permanently confused. Injuries to the head often result in amnesia for the time just before and just after an accident. As the injury heals, memory gradually returns. Tumors or other growth in the brain that affect the limbic system can also cause amnesia, when treatment of the growth is successful, the amnesia is cured. Classic amnesia may be described as the condition of an otherwise healthy person who "wakes up" in a strange place unable to recall his name, where he came from, or where he is going. It is interesting to note that such a person, however, retains knowledge of language and social customs. This kind of amnesia is probably due to emotional stress and is called hysterical amnesia. It occurs when some event is seen as so shameful or when problems become so overwhelming that the person concerned is unable to face reality. Instead, complete amnesia develops. Hysterical amnesia is treated through psychotherapy and sometimes the administration of drugs such as sodium amobarbital, which causes a person to talk freely. Clues to the past may appear under the sedation, and the psychotherapist can use these to prod(促使)the memory of the patient.

近30年来，中国经济快速发展，居民生活水平有了显著提高，居民的 消费支出结构 (consumption expenditure structure)也日趋合理。城镇居民的消费重点已从基本生活消费品转向了住房、交通和教育这些领域。统计显示，中国城镇居民在教育、文化、娱乐、服务、医疗和保健等方面的投入占总开支的34％，这表明城镇居民越来越注重精神生活和健康方面的需求。为了使城镇居民消费结构更合理，政府需要提高居民收入水平。同时，大众媒体也应当引导居民进行理性消费。

The 35-year-old Beijing woman is watching an ad showing a giant television made by the Chinese company Haier. A stream of introduction for the television floats in and out of view, including one about receiving electronic mail over the tube. A surfer rides the waves between skyscrapers, his wash leaving an "@" in the water. The ad is "too direct", she tells an interviewer. "There is this guy talking, telling me all about the product, showing me some images. We get it—but we don't like it." Since a Shanghai television station aired China's first TV commercial in 1979, most have been the plain, straightforward, tell-the-name-of-the-product-and-what-it-does kind. Those started disappearing in the U.S. in the late 1960s in favor of more subtle pitches using irony and humor. Now a study says Chinese commercials don't have to talk down to consumers anymore either—at least the one-third of them living in China's prosperous cities, and who most interest advertisers. Even the Western agencies that win awards elsewhere for hip, inventive commercials usually keep it simple in China. After all this country only began opening up 20 years ago and is fairly new to advertising. And to consumer culture, too. China is still a developing nation where an income of just $20,000 a year qualifies an urban household as middle-class. On the other hand, city people who once aspired to own the "big three"—a television, refrigerator and washing machine—have already moved up to DVD players and mobile phones. And with a population of 1.3 billion, the world's largest, China is a huge market. That is why the world's largest companies, from Coca-Cola to Procter Gamble, are battling it out in China. Advertisers spent more than $500 million dollars through the first half of the year, estimates market researcher, making China the largest advertising market in Asia after Japan. The prevailing view of many of those advertisers and their agencies is that the Chinese don't yet get clever or subtle advertising and they prefer a straightforward ad with lots of information. But the April survey of almost 500 people in five China's largest cities discovered "a savvy urban population, tired of a diet of 'boring' ads and hungry to be treated as the sophisticated decision-makers they are." In short, the Chinese appreciation of what makes a good ad is no different from their counterparts anywhere else in the world.

{{B}}Part II Listening Comprehension{{/B}}

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Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on more and more people's moving to another country. You can give examples to illustrate your point. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

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Secret E-Scores [A]Americans are obsessed with their scores. Credit scores, G.P.A.'s, SAT's, blood pressure and cholesterol(胆固醇)levels—you name it. So here's a new score to obsess about: the e-score, an online calculation that is assuming an increasingly important, and controversial, role in e-commerce. [B]These digital scores, known broadly as consumer valuation or buying-power scores, measure our potential value as customers. What's your e-score? You'll probably never know. That's because they are largely invisible to the public. But they are highly valuable to companies that want—or in some cases, don't want—to have you as their customer. [C]Online consumer scores are calculated by a handful of start-ups, as well as a few financial services, that specialize in the flourishing field of predictive consumer analytics. It is a Google like business, one fueled by almost unimaginable amounts of data and powered by complex computer algorithms(算法). The result is a private, digital ranking of American society unlike anything that has come before. A company, called eBureau, develops eScores—its name for custom scoring algorithms—to predict whether someone is likely to become a customer. Gordy Meyer, the founder and chief executive, says his system needs less than a second to size up a consumer and to transmit his or her score to an eBureau client. [D]It's true that credit scores, based on personal credit reports, have been around for decades. And direct marketing companies have long ranked consumers by their socioeconomic status. But e-scores go further. They can take into account facts like occupation, salary and home value to spending on luxury goods or pet food, and do it all with algorithms that their creators say accurately predict spending. [E]A growing number of companies, including banks, credit and debit card(借记卡)providers, insurers and online educational institutions are using these scores to choose whom to persuade on the Web. These scores can determine whether someone deserves a super credit card or a plain one, a full-service cable plan or none at all. They can determine whether a customer is routed promptly to an attentive service agent or moved to an overflow call center. [F]Federal regulators and consumer advocates worry that these scores could eventually put some consumers at a disadvantage, particularly those under financial stress. In effect, they say, the scores could create a new subprime class: people who are bypassed by companies online without even knowing it. Financial institutions, in particular, might avoid people with low scores, reducing those people's access to home loans, credit cards and insurance. [G]"The scoring is a tool to enable financial institutions to make decisions about financing based on unconventional methods," says David Vladeck, the director of the bureau of consumer protection at the Federal Trade Commission. "We are troubled by these practices." [H]Federal law governs the use of old-fashioned credit scores. Companies must have a legally permissible purpose before checking consumers' credit reports and must alert them if they are denied credit or insurance based on information in those reports. But the law does not extend to the new valuation scores because they are derived from nontraditional data and promoted for marketing. Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the United States Public Interest Research Group in Washington, worries that federal laws haven't kept pace with change in the digital age. [I]"There's a nontransparent scoring system that collects information about you to generate a score— and what your score is results in the offers you get on the Internet," he says. "In most cases, you don't know who is collecting the information, you don't know what predictions they have made about you, or the potential for being denied choice or paying too much." [J]Here's how e-scores work: A client submits a data set containing names of tens of thousands of sales leads(线索)it has already bought, along with the names of leads who went on to become customers. EBureau then adds several thousand details—like age, income, occupation, property value, length of residence and retail history—from its databases to each customer profile. From those raw data points, the system calculates up to 50,000 additional variables per person. Then it searches thoroughly all that data for the rare common factors among the existing customer base. The result scores prospective customers based on their resemblance to previous customers. [K]E-scores might range from 0 to 99, with 99 indicating a consumer who is a likely return on investment and 0 indicating an unprofitable one. But in some industries, "knowing the bottom is more important than knowing the top," Mr. Meyer says. In online education, for instance, e-scores help schools distinguish prospective students who are not worth the investment of expensive course catalogs or attentive follow-up calls—like people who use fake names or adopt the identities of relatives. "If we can find 25 percent who have zero chance of enrolling, we can say 'don't waste your money on them,'" he says. EBureau charges clients 3 to 75 cents a score, depending on the industry and the volume of leads. Such scores increase the accuracy and speed with which companies can identify potential customers, says Mr. Weintraub of the LeadsCon conference. "Scores tell you 'this person might actually qualify, so let's focus on them,' " he says. "This way you are not focusing on people who really can't qualify." [L]Most people never see their value scores. But some services openly discuss how their measurements work. A case study on the eBureau site, for example, describes how the company ranked prospective customers for a national prepaid debit card issuer, assigning each a score of 0 to 998. People who scored above 950 were considered likely to become highly profitable customers, generating revenue over six months of an estimated $213 per card. Those who scored less than 550 were predicted to be unprofitable clients, with estimated revenue of $74 or less. With eBureau's system, the card issuer could identify and court the high scorers while avoiding low scorers. [M]For companies, this kind of scoring clearly increases the speed and reduces the cost of acquiring customers. But consumers are paying a heavy price for that increased corporate efficiency, public interests advocates say. The digital scores create a two-tiered system that invisibly prioritizes some online users for credit and insurance offers while denying the same opportunities to others, says Mr. Mierzwinski of the Public Interest Research Group. [N]Mr. Meyer and other eBureau executives disagree, saying the concerns are misplaced. EBureau, Mr. Meyer says, went to great lengths to build a system with both regulatory requirements and consumer privacy in mind. The company, he says, has put firewalls in place to separate databases containing federally regulated data, like credit or debt information used for purposes like risk management, from databases about consumers used to generate scores for marketing purposes. [O]He adds that eBureau's clients use the scores only to narrow their field of prospective customers— not for the purposes of approving people for credit, loans or insurance. Moreover, he says, the company does not sell consumer data to others, nor does it retain the scores it transmits to clients. "We are an evaluator," Mr. Meyer says. "We are trying to stay away from being intrusive to the consumer." [P]It's just another sign of the rise of what might be called the Scored Society. Google ranks our search results by our location and search history. Facebook scores us based on our online activities. Klout scores us by how many followers we have on Twitter, among other things. And now e-scores rank our potential value to companies.

中国是全球最大的黄金生产国，最近还取代了印度成为全球最大的黄金消费国。中国黄金的年产量约为300吨，年消费量则约为400吨。这使得中国的黄金进口量激增。仅在今年l0月份，其黄金进口总量超过全球需求的四分之一。目前。国内黄金需求仍在快速上升。经济稳步增长，人民收入持续增加，新产品推出，再加上市场本身日益成熟和扩展，这些因素都推动了中国黄金市场向前发展，并使中国成为影响国际金价的一股强大力量。

Why Are Airlines Withholding Seats?[A] A few months ago I booked a flight for two and then went to select seats on the airline's site. Based on the destination and time of year, I was surprised to find only two adjacent seats were available without paying a premium (额外费用). But I was even more surprised a few weeks later, when we boarded the aircraft and a flight attendant announced that only 30% of seats were occupied, so we should all feel free to stretch out.[B] So how could a flight that looked nearly full a month earlier wind up with seven out of ten seats empty? That's a question only the airlines can answer, and they're not eager to provide many details.[C] Are some carriers intentionally holding back seat assignments, in the hope we'll all pay for "premium" seats? It's a fair question, and the evidence is intriguing.Behind the screen indeed[D] An awful plot goes on behind airline and travel booking screens, and much of it is strictly off-limits to consumers. What we do know is that for decades now airlines have become masters of what the industry calls yield management, offering millions of combinations of fares based on advance purchase patterns and other booking trends, so nearly everyone pays a different price based on when they buy. But now that paying extra for your seat selection has become common practice, securing your reservation is just half the battle.[E] Some industry experts have connected the dots. "They're trying to get people to buy premium seats," says George Hobica, USATODAY.com's Fly Guy columnist and the founder of Airfarewatchdog. Com. "They want to increase revenue. And we're getting more complaints about it." He notes that it "really annoys" passengers who want to sit together, particularly when traveling with small children. [F] He's echoed by Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition (联盟) : "With yield management, consumers are aware and they know that airlines are constantly changing prices on seats. But if this is true, it is unethical—they're grossly misleading us. The thing that I find so offensive is conveying to me that I have no options, but if I wait a week or two then I do have options. " [G] According to the airlines, the reason for ancillary (附加的) revenue is unbundling (分类计价) ticket prices, so passengers who desire a given service—say checking a bag or ordering a soft drink—pay for it, while those who don't are spared the cost. But as Mitchell notes, "There's another twist to this. The airlines are saying fees are for'optional services'. Well, seats aren't optional!" [H] Of course, securing a good seat isn't an issue if you're in first class or you're an elite member of a frequent flyer program. But what about the rest of us? As I've pointed out repeatedly in recent columns, we're faced with record-high load factors, the highest for the U. S. airline industry since World War Ⅱ. But even with the average percentage of occupied seats for domestic flights at 82. 7%, it's still an average—some flights will be fuller but others will not, particularly weeks in advance. Yet searching for seats keeps getting harder and harder. Seats for sale[I] Hobica cites the major airlines as the prime culprits (起因), but he also notes even low-cost carriers can make securing seats difficult. On the flip side, he credits JetBlue and Virgin America for providing customers with clear policies. And then there is British Airways, which allows passengers in economy and business classes to select seats only 24 hours in advance. I asked an airline representative if seeing fewer free seats is a trend, and the response was: "That's going to vary because there are so many variables." [J] I decided to check on seat availability at Delta, com. I inquired about economy-class availability for two seats on a busy route—Atlanta to Chicago—and conducted an apples-to-apples search for the same morning departure seven days in advance, and again 14 days in advance. For the flight one week out, a total of only eight seats were available, one preferred and seven standard, but only one set of two seats together. For the flight two weeks out, a total of 29 seats were available, consisting of 20 preferred and only nine standard, and still with only one set together. Remarkable how even twice the booking time still produced so few "free" seats, separately or together, yet there were plenty of seats that could be bought for the fight price. [K] I contacted Delta and a spokesman said the price for preferred economy varies, "depending on a number of different factors", so customers need to compare the costs on a flight-by-flight basis. The preferred seats are reserved primarily for Medallion (勋章) members, and become available without additional charge 24 hours prior to departure. When asked if Delta has received complaints about a dearth of free seats, he stated, "Overall, our seat program has been received very well." [L] But my findings dovetailed (吻合) with recent complaints filed with Airfarewatchdog: (1) When my husband tried to get a seat assignment on the first flight, there was just one "complimentary (免费的) seat"(near the back in the middle) available, the other available seats had to be purchased for $69. On the connecting flight there were no "complimentary seats" at all! Is this legal? He bought and paid for a ticket on these flights and now he is supposed to "buy" a seat! (2) (After) paying for the flight, a message popped up and said that I could only get a seat assignment when I checked in. In order to get a confirmed seat, I had to pay $129 extra! Unless I pay, without a confirmed seat, I am the first one to be bumped from the flight if they are overbooked. How do they get away with this? (3) Does checking in online at the 24-hour mark before the flight give me a number in line or let me select seats then? Or do we all rush the gate with our boarding passes (and no seat assignment) in order to get the seat assignment?How to respond?[M] So what can you do? It's a tough proposition. Usually I would offer strategies for countering such airline initiatives, but in this case the options are limited. That's why some believe the U. S. Department of Transportation should investigate these practices. As Mitchell says, "The airlines are holding all the cards with this one. There is a sore need for transparency on this. When people are confused, they make bad decisions. "[N] That said, consider the following: (1) When budgeting your airfares, make sure you consider not just baggage fees but the added cost of seat selection—for all travelers and in both directions. (2) If possible, book early, when there should be more seats available, and check in early too. Why the qualifier "should"? Because if availability is artificially manipulated, it's hard to be certain. (3) Book airlines that offer more transparent seat-selection policies. Of course, this is not an issue with Southwest and other carriers that offer "open seating" policies. (4) Finally, the last resort is what Hobica calls "horse trading": negotiating seat swaps with other passengers. But this has become a risky and undesirable option with flights so full, overhead bins (行李舱) so crammed and fellow passengers who may have paid for premium seats in advance.

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BSection C/B

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北京是中国的首都，是全国的政治、经济、文化中心。它是一座历史文化名城，其历史可追溯到3000年前。作为中国 四大古都 (Four Great Ancient Capitals)之一，北京有着800多年的建都历史，因而北京城内有很多传统而宏伟的 宫廷建筑 (imperial architectures)，如宫殿、园林和寺庙。北京旅游资源丰富，对游客开放的旅游景点达两百多处。北京也是全国教育最发达的地区之一，聚集了众多高校。北京这座将传统文化与现代文明完美融合的城市，具有重要的国际影响力。

中国学习英语的人口数量全球最多。数据显示，中国有4亿多人在学英语。约占全国总人口的1／3。目前，中国的小学，甚至幼儿园都开设英语课程。英语学习贯穿中国学生的整个学习生涯。英语是中国学生必须学习的一门科目。中国是世界上对英语学习最狂热的国家之一，“英语热”在中国的持续也引发了激烈的争论。很多人认为应该在高考中降低英语考试的分值，突出语文的重要性，让更多的人关注自己的母语。

中国许多地方都出产玉石，以新疆和田玉最为著名。

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For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay discussing how watching movies influences people. You should use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.