PASSAGE TWO

There are a few differences in the organization of memorandums and letters. Memorandums and letters differ somewhat in【T1】______. "To" and "From" replace a letter's inside address and【T2】______, for example. Further, letters are usually sent outside the organization, while memorandums are usually internal messages. As internal messages, memorandums tend to be more informal, and【T3】______ than their letter counterparts. One survey of 800 business people showed they spent from【T4】______ of their time writing memorandums. There must be a lot of executives overwhelmed by the number of memorandums they receive. As a result, competition for【T5】______ places importance on directness and clarity in memorandums. So perhaps even more so than with letters. Memorandums should start with【T6】______ early in the message. Memorandums also need special【T7】______: keep paragraphs short, much like newspaper articles. Computers increasingly aid mid- and upper-level managers who prepare their own memorandums without【T8】______. If you prepare your own correspondence, realize the importance of dating your messages. Knowing precisely when...

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The founding of the Boston Library in 1653 demonstrate the early North American colonists' interest in books and libraries.

PASSAGE ONE

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We started burning some leaves in our yard, but the fire got out of hand and we had to call the fire department to put it down.

Visual PerspectivePerspective in art is the way that artists represent three-dimensional objects on the two dimensions of their canvas. There are two kinds of perspective and they occupy important roles in the art history.I.【T1】_____ perspective【T1】______ The way that the【T2】_____ affects how we see things,【T2】______especially distant things Makes a mountain in the distance appear to be less【T3】_____【T3】______than closer object Application:A. Realistic artists: reproduceB.【T4】_____: create their own special effects【T4】______II. Linear perspective the more【T5】_____ things are, the smaller they seem to get【T5】______ Example:【T6】_____; a line of telephone poles【T6】______III. "The vanishing point" Objects get smaller and smaller as they recede,until they vanish in a point on the【T7】_____【T7】______ Objects or scenes may have more than one vanishing point:A. A cube with one of its faces squarely perpendicular to us Single vanishing point: directly behind it and on the horizonB. A cube with one of its【T8】_____facing us【T8】______Two vanishing points:one for the right-hand face; one for the left-hand faceC. A cube viewed from somewhat【T9】_____【T9】______Three vanishing points:one to the right, one to the left, and a third one behind it IV. The history of perspective in art Early western art:Artists recognized the effect but failed to present itExample: the paintings inside【T10】_____【T10】______the illustrations in【T11】_____ Christian churches【T11】______ 13th and 14th century Reverse perspective 【T12】_____:【T12】______A Linear perspective1)Brunelleschi: conducted several【T13】_____ experiments【T13】______and discovered the rules of perspectiveExample: a(n)【T14】_____ of San Giovanni Bapistery【T14】______2)Donatello: began using accurate linear perspective; spread it throughout EuropeB. Aerial perspectiveFlemish and【T15】_____ masters: developed the idea【T15】______Example: Jan van Eyck's "The Virgin of Chancellor Rolin"

大厅里悄无一人，只听见钟在滴答滴答地走着。

桂林环境优雅，物产丰富。

Nearly every country in the developed world, and more and more in the developing world, provide free primary and secondary education. In the case of university education, however, there is a great deal of disparity between countries' education policies. The following are excerpts of opinions. Read them carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the opinions; 2. give your comment. Adam Swift, author of "How to Reap the Benefits of College" It is a fundamental right of individuals to experience university and to have access to the knowledge it affords. University serves as an extremely valuable forum for different views, which everyone has a right to experience should they wish. The state has a duty to facilitate this development. A state can only truly be considered legitimate when an educated electorate approves it. Without a proper education, individuals cannot be effective citizens. A university education in the modern world is essential to the development of such informed citizens. For this reason, free university is a great benefit to a citizen as an exploration for his own development on a personal level, and with his relation to society as a whole. Thomas Kane, author of "The Price of Admission: Rethinking How Americans Pay for College" There is no right to the university experience. University life is a mess-up. Students rarely take their time in university as seriously as some would suggest. Self-knowledge and genuine wisdom come from study and reflection. This can be done anywhere, not just in a university. There is no fundamental right of individuals to be allowed to take four years free of charge to learn new skills that will benefit them or teach them how to be better citizens. The state's duty is to provide a baseline of care, which in the case of education secondary school more than provides. If individuals want more they should pay for it themselves. Christine Hill, author of "Still Paying off that Student Loan" A university-educated populace is of great value to any state, and provides two main benefits. The first benefit is that it provides extensive economic boons to society. By facilitating higher education, through state funding of university study, countries increase the likelihood and quantity of investment in their economies by both domestic and foreign firms, as a highly educated and skilled workforce is a country trait many businesses consider highly desirable when making investment decisions. The second benefit is the development of leaders in society. States function best when the best and brightest have the opportunity to rise to the top. The barrier to entry created by fees and other costs of university will prevent some potentially high-worth individuals from ever reaching levels of success. Free university education allows all individuals to attend university, guaranteeing that the leaders of tomorrow have the chance to show their worth. Walter Allen, author of "College in Black and White" A highly educated populace does not provide the great economic bounties the supporters of free university education propound. Countries need educated people, including a certain amount of university graduates, but the idea that everyone having a degree would benefit society economically is unfounded. There is no economic benefit when people with degrees are doing jobs that do not require university education, and represents a substantial misallocation of resources on the part of the state. As to developing future leaders, those who are gifted or particularly driven can still rise to the top, even if university is not free, as scholarships tend to be mostly aimed at such individuals. Surely, society does not benefit at all from university being free.

Passage Two

夜色中看这堵围墙，十分奇妙，颇有点诗意。白墙、黑瓦、宝蓝色的漏窗泛出晶莹的光辉，里面的灯光从漏窗中透出来，那光线也变得绿莹莹的。清风吹来，树枝摇曳，灯光闪烁变幻，好像有一个童话般的世界深藏在围墙的里面。抬起头来从墙顶上往里看，可以看到主建筑的黑色屋顶翘在夜空里，围墙也变得不像墙了，它带着和主建筑相似的风格进入了整体结构。附近的马路也变样了，好像是到了什么风景区或文化宫的入口。

时间过得飞快。现在，他来纽约已经半年了。

As video game giants like Sony and Microsoft touted their new gizmos at the Tokyo Game Show this week, industry executives had more than the coming holiday sales season on their minds. Apple's recent foray into video games—with the iPhone, the iPod Touch and its ever-expanding online App Store—is causing as much hand-wringing among old industry players as the global economic slump, which threatens to take the steam out of year-end shopping for the second consecutive year. Among the questions voiced by video game executives; How can Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep consumers hooked on game-only consoles, like the Wii or even the PlayStation Portable, when Apple offers games on popular, everyday devices that double as cellphones and music players? And how can game developers and the makers of big consoles persuade consumers to buy the latest shoot'em-ups for $30 or more, when Apple's App store is full of games, created by developers around the world and approved by Apple, that cost as little as 99 cents—or even are free? The concerns highlight an accelerating shift away from hard-core games, which have traditionally driven console sales, to more casual ones played on cellphones. Of the 758 new game titles shown at the Tokyo Game Show, 168 were for cellphone platforms—more than twice as many as in the previous year. Apple did not participate in the Tokyo Game Show, which ends Sunday. But the company introduced a beefed-up version of the iPod Touch this month, explicitly comparing it as a gaming platform with the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable. Apple's assault could even eat into sales of home consoles like Nintendo's Wii, Sony's PlayStation 3 or Microsoft's XBox, as game-playing quickly becomes centered on cellphones. Many in the industry say that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft need to explore more radical changes to their businesses, including an emphasis on software rather than hardware and a better way for users to download games. For game makers like Konami, the iPhone could be an attractive platform because it is cheap and easy to develop games for, with potentially large returns Developing games for sophisticated machines like PlayStation 3 and XBox, on the other hand, is time-consuming and expensive. Decreasing interest from game makers could further hurt Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, because they rely on solid game lineups to drive console sales. And in turn, lower console sales would mean fewer developers interested in making new games. To bolster sales of its Wii, Nintendo said Thursday that it would cut its price by a fifth in major markets, following similar cuts by Sony and Microsoft for their own consoles. Nintendo is trying to stem a recent slide in popularity of the Wii. The console was a hit with consumers, thanks to its motion-sensitive controller, but sales have stalled, dropping to 2.23 million units in the April-to-June quarter from 5.17 million a year earlier. A year ago, Nintendo also introduced a new version of its DS handheld device that lets users download digital content, including music, photos, videos and games, via a Wi-Fi connection—a clear imitation of Apple's App Store. Microsoft, meanwhile, is developing technology that lets people play video games using natural body movements instead of hand-held controllers. In June, the company introduced a prototype of a project code-named Natal, a motion system that combines cameras with voice and face-recognition software. Sony has promised even more hardware wizardry: 3-D video games and a new controller much like the Wii that is shaped like a lollipop and senses motion. Its PlayStation Go portable console, due next month, does away with memory discs and instead relies on downloads from a virtual store. But analysts say hardware is fast losing center stage to software in the game-playing world. What will draw consumers, said Hirokazu Hanamura, president of the Tokyo market research company, Enterbrain, is software prowess, like Apple's App Store, which already has 21,100 games—far more than Nintendo and Sony combined. Many within the industry are wary of change. Still, Japan has experience in developing games for cellphones. According to an industry group, Japan's cellphone game market reached ￥16.25 billion in 2007. Japanese companies have been especially successful in combining mobile phone games with social networking. Gree, a fast-growing site with about 12.6 million users, gets visitors hooked on its social networking service, then offers cellphone games on its mobile version. The company makes money on advertisements and by charging for premium accounts. Some Japanese game developers, meanwhile, have jumped on the iPhone bandwagon. Since Apple first released the iPhone in the United States in 2007, Hudson, a games company, has introduced 26 applications for the App Store and logged 3 million downloads. Hudson plans to increase the pace of development, creating 20 applications a year.

{{B}}PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION{{/B}}

早年的艰辛生活磨炼了范仲淹坚忍不拔的毅力和不计利害得失、心怀天下的胸襟。他一生仕途坎坷，几度遭贬。他的朋友藤子京被贬岳州(今湖南岳阳)，重修岳阳楼，写信请他为岳阳楼写篇记，尽管那时范仲淹在政治上遭到很大的打击，被贬在邓州，身体欠佳，但他还是答应了藤子京的要求，在邓州的花洲书院挥毫撰写了著名的《岳阳楼记》。

Passage Four

Single-sex SchoolI.【T1】______【T1】______— Co-ed: the【T2】_____ of sexes, politically acceptable【T2】______II. Research— Single-Sex Versus Coeducational Schoolinga)Conducted by FDEb)Released in【T3】_____【T3】______c)Conclusion: single-sex and co-ed are【T4】_____【T4】______— UCLA StudyGirls from single-sex schools are【T5】_____ than co-ed peers【T5】______III. Advantages— Gentler【T6】_____: good for boys because they mature later than girls【T6】______— Teachers understand how their students learn— Homogeneity【T7】_____ planning events and activities【T7】______— Allow children to learn in their own individual waysIV. Reasons— Let children be themselvesa)Boys will be less【T8】_____ in single-sex setting【T8】______b)Girls will be more【T9】_____【T9】______—【T10】_____【T10】______a)Girls will learn mathematics, advanced science,【T11】_____ etc.【T11】______b)Boys will learn choirs and orchestras and【T12】_____【T12】______c)Break out of the【T13】______【T13】______— SocializationSingle-sex schooling will have more controlled【T14】_____ for children【T14】______V. Blended or【T15】______schools【T15】______— Colorado: two distinct high schools under one roof

Researchers at the University of Colorado are investigating a series of indicators that could help themselves to predict earthquakes.