When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world by publishing it, keep the idea secret, or patent it. A granted patent is the result of a bargain struck between an inventor and the state, by which the inventor gets a limited period of monopoly and publishes full details of his invention to the public after that period terminates. Only under the most exceptional circumstances is the lifespan of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events. The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi; his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971 because for most of the patent's normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward for the invention. Because a patent remains permanently public after it has terminated, the shelves of the library attached to the patent office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone to use and, if older than half a century, sometimes even re-patent; indeed, patent experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of conducting a search through live patents that the one sure way of avoiding violation of any other inventor's right is to plagiarize(抄袭)a dead patent. likewise, because publication of an idea in any other form permanently invalidates further patents on that idea, it is traditionally safe to take ideas from other areas of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these presumptions of legal security. Anyone closely involved in patents and inventions soon learns that most "new" ideas are, in fact, as old as the hills. It is their reduction to commercial practice, either through necessity or dedication, or through the availability of new technology, that makes news and money. The basic patent for the theory of magnetic recording dates back to 1886. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from the late 19th and early 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear.

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。

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历史的道路不全是平坦的，有时走到艰难险阻的境界，全靠雄健的精神才能够冲过去。一条浩浩荡荡的长江大河，有时流到很宽阔的境界，平原无际，一泻万里。有时流到很逼仄的境界，两岸丛山叠岭，绝壁断崖，江河流于其间，回环曲折，极其险峻。民族生命的进程，其经历亦复如是。中华民族现在所逢的史路，是一段崎岖险阻的道路。在这一段道路上，实在亦有一种奇绝壮绝的景致，使我们经过这段道路的人，感到一种壮美的趣味。

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中国中央电视台 (China Central Television)。简称为CCTV，1958年正式投入使用，是中国的官方电视媒体之一。它所有的节目都通过卫星播出，拥有中国境内最多的收视人群。CCTV除了有面向中国大陆播出的频道之外，还有通过各种语言向全球播出的国际频道。作为当今中国最具竞争力的主流媒体之一，CCTV具有 新闻传播 (news dissemination)、社会教育、文化娱乐、信息服务等多种功能，是公众获取信息的方式之一。然而，随着互联网的高速发展，中央电视台在普通大众生活中的主导地位已受到了影响。

Smokers in the "land of the free" are finding themselves increasingly less free to pursue their habit. New York City officials are the latest to consider banning smoking in their parks and outside spaces. The possibility of extending smokefree legislation was【C1】 1in a public health policy document. However the mayor, Michael Bloomberg—who has【C2】 2anti-smoking programmes but is up for reelection—appeared to qualify the extent of the【C3】 3. He wanted "to see if smoking in parks has a【C4】 4impact on people's health", the New York Times reported recently, suggesting it "might not be【C5】 5possible to enforce a ban across thousands of acres." Cigarette makers Phillip Morris USA did not like the idea at all. "We believe that smoking should be permitted outdoors except in very particular【C6】 6, such as outdoor areas primarily【C7】 7for children," a company spokesman said. But the ban plan from the city's health commissioner, Thomas Farley, won some backing from the council's speaker, Christine Quinn. Fines should be【C8】 8, she said, but "conceptually, that's an idea I'm very interested in and open to." Such bans remain【C9】 9but are increasing, with California in the vanguard(前锋). State legislators there have【C10】 10smoking in all state parks and on parts of beaches, two years after Los Angeles extended its existing ban on playgrounds and beaches to parks. Chicago still allows smoking in many of its parks, but bans it at beaches and playgrounds. A)occurrences B)modest C)negative D)evacuated E)championed F)circumstances G)outlined H)mild I)logistically J)designated K)provoked L)rare M)analytically N)prohibited O)restrictions 【C1】

Parents' Homework: Find Perfect Teachers for KidsA) Tomi Hall did what she could to lobby for the best teachers for her two children, making her case this spring in letters to the principal. Then all she could do was waiting for news of their classroom assignments—and it's been torturing. The Aurora mom knows her efforts carry no guarantees. One year her son didn't get the teacher Hall had hoped for, and he struggled for months with one whose relaxed style came across to him as uncaring. "Granted, I know it' s just kindergarten," said Hall, 39. "But... a teacher can make or break you."B) In the next few weeks, many families will rip open notification letters or go to school to see class lists posted on the front door. For parents accustomed to directing nearly every aspect of their child' s early learning it can be difficult to have little voice in teacher selection—a decision they view as critical. Some spend hours crafting the perfect letter or meet with the principal to make an argument. For their child's early learning, parents regard that teacher is critical.C) Principals, meanwhile, struggle to create balanced classrooms while juggling(同时应付) individual requests. They say they want input but find it increasingly necessary to discourage parents from asking for a specific teacher. Administrators don't want the selection process to be a popularity contest—in part because what makes a teacher popular may have nothing to do with a particular child' s educational needs.D) "I'm bright enough to realize parents talk at soccer fields and baseball fields, but you have to realize your experience with Teacher A may be very different than someone else's Teacher A," said Scott Meek, the new principal at Northbrook Junior High School who is making classroom assignments this summer for 600 students with the help of an office display board. He asks parents to focus their input on the student and his or her learning style and trust the school to make the right match.E) Some students also recognize that certain teachers bring out the best in them. "I need one of those strict kinds of teachers," said Hall' s daughter Tori, 12, who is entering 7th grade. "When I get a not-so-strict teacher, I think they don't really care about me. I really don't want a bad teacher. I'll get lower grades."F) When Chaya Fish, 30, of West Rogers Park taught at a private school in New York, she said, it was obvious who the "in" teachers were. She said she automatically joined them after the principal' s son landed in her classroom. "It was ridiculous," said Fish. "The other teacher was probably better than me. It was how you dressed, how you talked" that often determined parental favor.G) Teachers said the most vocal parents often get their way so that all parties involved can avoid a difficult school year. But educators warn that parents who get what they wish for may be sorry afterward. "A lot of times when people orchestrate(精心安排) who they think their child is best suited for, they find they made a mistake," said Mark Friedman, superintendent(督学) for Libertyville Elementary School District 70. "I have many parents say later, 'I don't know why I did this. It isn't working out this year.'" Friedman said he assures parents their comments will be considered but never guarantees a specific teacher. In fact, he tells them that if they do request a teacher and later regret that choice, "you have no one to blame but yourself."H) Some parents said they've learned their lesson about trying to guess which teacher would be best. Jamie Thompson said she was initially concerned when her daughter was assigned to a strict lst-grade teacher. She was aware other parents had lobbied for a different person, who had a more casual style. "At the end, it turned out that the other class was asking, 'Why isn't my child learning that?'" said Thompson, 36, of Arlington Heights. "That' s why I don' t want to interfere too much."I) Yet parents have different reasons for requesting classes, and some have nothing to do with the teacher, said Michelle Van Every, 36, of Deerfield. She and other mothers once requested that their children not be placed in a classroom with a specific boy—not because of him, but to avoid his mother, who had created problems in the past, she said. "We didn' t want to cross paths with her," said Van Every, who added that the school complied with their request. "We didn't want to have to volunteer with her at a class party."J) Each district follows its own procedure for teacher selection. Some begin as early as April or May, officials said. Many ask parents to complete a form about their child's strengths and weaknesses. Typically, teachers have some say in the process by deciding early on which students should be separated or kept together, on the basis of academics, personalities and learning styles. The principal draws up the final class lists, often after meeting with parents or reviewing special requests, officials said. K) Many school districts wait until the last minute to announce class assignments, usually about two weeks before the start-up of school. That' s because they have come to expect a flood of phone calls within hours from parents who beg or demand to switch teachers.L) Other schools handle it differently. At Sawyer Elementary School on Chicago's Southwest Side, the fall class assignments are handed out with the last report card the previous spring, said teacher Maureen "Moe" Forte. Forte said she is aware of colleagues and members of the Local School Council who have asked that their children be moved from one class into another. "It's not fair," Forte said. "I was very upset that one of the LSC parents moved her daughter to my classroom.The parent just felt my personality fit better with her child. And it' s not a personality contest."M) Denita Ricci of Lake Villa said she knows parents who request certain classes but tries to stay out of the process. Her son, Mason Wubs, 12, hopes to be placed in the same class as his best friend, easing the transition to 7th grade at a new school. "I trust the school's judgment," she said, though she secretly hopes Mason will share a class with his friend. "I think they need to learn to deal with people who are different from them, just like an employer."

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中国菜 (cuisine)是中国各地区、各民族各种菜肴的统称，也指发源于中国的烹饪方式。中国菜历史悠久， 流派 (genre)众多，主要代表菜系有“八大菜系”。每一菜系因气候、地理、历史、烹饪技巧和生活方式的差异而风格各异。中国菜的 调料 (seasoning)丰富多样，调料的不同是形成地方特色菜的主要原因之一。中国菜强调色、香、味俱佳，味是菜肴的灵魂。中国饮食文化博大精深，作为世界三大菜系之一的中国菜，在海内外享有盛誉。

颐和园(the Summer Palace)始建于清朝，是中国规模最大、保存最完好的皇家园林(imperial garden)之一。

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该系统的投入运行使中国成为继美国和俄罗斯之后第三个拥有自己的卫星导航系统的国家。

{{B}}Part I Writing (30 minutes){{/B}}

忽然想起采莲的事情来了。采莲是江南的旧俗。似乎很早就有，而六朝时为盛；从诗歌里约略知道。采莲的是少年的女子，她们是荡着小船，唱着艳歌去的。采莲人不用说很多，还有看采莲的人。那是一个热闹的季节，也是一个风流的季节。梁元帝《采莲赋》里说得好： 于是妖童媛女，荡舟心许；鹢首徐回，兼传羽杯。棹将移而藻挂，船欲动而萍开。尔其纤腰束素，迁延顾步。夏始春余，叶嫩花初。恐沾裳而浅笑，畏倾船而敛裾。

For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on university ranking. Your essay should include the different views and reasons on university ranking. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

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