BPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D./B
The news about vitamins keeps getting worse. Many studies published in the last few years shows that a variety of popular supplements don't do anything to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, stroke or a variety of cancers. But what about multivitamins? These combination pills, which【C1】______10 to 30 vitamins and【C2】______, are the most popular supplements sold in America. A report published recently suggests they shouldn't be. The study【C3】______161,808 participants in the Women's Health Initiative, a long-term effort to【C4】______risk factors for cancer, heart disease and bone health in elderly women.【C5】______in the nationwide study included white, black, Asian and Native American women. They were followed for an average of nearly eight years.【C6】______, 41.5% of study participants took some version of a multivitamin. Those women were more likely to be white and college-educated, live in the West, exercise and have a lower body mass index. However, women who took multivitamins weren't any more likely to【C7】______a diagnosis of breast, lung, stomach, and other cancers than were women who didn't take multivitamins. Nor were multivitamins in general helpful in【C8】______heart attacks, strokes or reducing the risk of death from any【C9】______during the study period. The research team did find one【C10】______benefit: The 3,741 women who took stress multivitamins—formulations【C11】______higher doses of several B vitamins along with an extra amount of vitamin C—were 25% less likely to have a heart attack. No other correlations between vitamins and health outcomes were statistically【C12】______. The study provides【C13】______evidence that multivitamin use has little or no【C14】______on the risk of common cancers, heart disease or total mortality in elderly women.【C15】______, researchers wondered, "Why do millions of Americans use a daily multivitamin for【C16】______disease prevention when the supporting scientific data are weak?" Some physicians continue to【C17】______them for patients whose diets may have nutritional【C18】______. And since they don't require a prescription, many people simply【C19】______they are safe. But those assumptions may not be【C20】______, especially if people wind up overdosing on vitamins and minerals, the researchers wrote.
We sometimes hear the sad news of suicide in universities. Is there any way to prevent this from happening again? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on the best way to prevent suicide in universities. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.
Directions:Writeanessaybasedonthedrawing.Inyourwriting,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150words.
[A] Watching related expenses and making wise choice[B] Paying attention to details[C] Weighing your financial goals and expectations first[D] Maintaining realistic expectations[E] Narrowing the search[F] Not too special[G] Choosing specialty funds How to Select a Fund Eating better. Exercising. Investing. There are a lot of things you know should be doing. The problem is that getting started always seems to be the hardest part. For many investors, mutual funds are a good way to go, but trying to sort through the number of available choices—now more than 10 000—makes this important task appear overwhelming. Let's look at some ways to cut that number down to a reasonable size, as well as other factors to consider when selecting your first fund. 【R1】______ Before you begin examining potential investments, it's important to take some time to access your own goals and risk tolerance. If you start with a clear objective in mind, as well as an understanding as to how you might react if your investment loses money, you'll be less likely to purchase a fund that doesn't fit your needs. And that's what often leads to disappointment. It is important to look for funds that are appropriate for both your goals and your investment temperament (性情). 【R2】______ One way to begin your search for a good fund is to use the Morningstar star rating. The rating is a useful tool for narrowing the field to funds that have done a good job of balancing return and risk in the past. To assign ratings, Morningstar uses a formula that compares a fund's risk-adjusted historical performance with that of other funds within four rating groups-domestic stock funds, international stock funds, taxable bond funds, and municipal bond funds. 【R3】______ Funds that invest solely in a single market sectors, called specialty funds, often have impressive returns and may be great additions to a diversified portfolio(投资组合). However, the success of such funds depends largely on the fortunes of a particular market sector. Hence, specialty funds probably aren't the best way to start. For your first fund, look for a diversified stock fund that has exposure to different types of stocks. 【R4】______ There's no free lunch in fund investing: in addition to the sales fees that some fund companies charge, fund investors must also pay management fees and trading cost. Unfortunately, you don't necessarily get what you pay for—no one has ever shown that more expensive funds provide greater returns. Look for funds with reasonable costs. The expense ratio, which expresses annual costs as a percentage amount, is probably the best number to use when comparing mutual fund costs. 【R5】______ Whatever the market does, try to take it in stride. You're in for the long haul, so don't worry about the market's day-to-day gyrations. Relax and resist the temptation to monitor your first investment daily. Check in on your mutual funds once a month, and give your portfolio a thorough exam every 6 to 12 months. And consider adding to your fund each month. An automatic investment plan makes it a relatively painless process. Finally, remember that the ultimate measure of your success as an investor depends not on your owning the best-performing mutual fund. Only one fund will be the top performer over the next decade, and there's no way to predict which one it will be. Meeting your own financial goals should ultimately be the yardstick (标准) by which you measure your investment success.
As if they needed any more excuse, new research suggests men need their sleep if they're to live a long life. Women, on the other hand, can live long lives【C1】______poor sleep habits as long as they eat a diverse diet that includes vitamin B6 and plenty of vegetables. Vitamin B6 can be found in food such as meat, bananas and nuts.【C2】______other things, it allows the body to use and【C3】______energy from protein and carbohydrates. The findings come from a study led by Professor Mark Wahlqvist from Monash University which looked at how diet【C4】______sleep quality and mortality among elderly men and women. Professor Wahlqvist said sleep played a more【C5】______role in men's mortality than women's. "Poor sleep has been associated with increased disease rate and mortality. We found that for both【C6】______poor sleep was strongly【C7】______poor appetite and poor perceived health." But the researchers also found a【C8】______relationship between a diverse diet and sleep,【C9】______in women. "For women, good sleep only ensures a survival advantage【C10】______they had a diverse diet," said Professor Walhqvist. The study found women were almost twice as likely as men to sleep【C11】______Women who were poor sleepers had a lower intake of vitamin B6 from food than those whose sleep was【C12】______"fair" or "good". Fair sleepers had lower iron intakes than good sleepers. Both men and women could improve their【C13】______by eating a more【C14】______diet, the research said "Sufficient dietary diversity in men could【C15】______the adverse effect on mortality of poor sleep【C16】______women need to make sure they are eating foods high in vitamin B6," said Professor Walhqvist. Participants in the study who did not sleep well were also less able to chew, had poor appetites, and did less physical activity. "These characteristics could lead to lower overall dietary quality and food and nutrition intake, especially for vegetables, protein-rich foods, and vitamin B6. They may also result in the【C17】______of death. Intervention【C18】______on education on healthy dietary【C19】______in elderly people could improve sleep duration and【C20】______more stable levels of health."
The percentage of immigrants (including those unlawfully present) in the United States has been creeping upward for years. At 12.6 percent, it is now higher than at any point since the mid-1920s. We are not about to go back to the days when Congress openly worried about inferior races polluting America's bloodstream. But once again we are wondering whether we have too many of the wrong sort of newcomers. Their loudest critics argue that the new wave of immigrants cannot, and indeed do not want to, fit in as previous generations did. We now know that these racist views were wrong. In time, Italians, Romanians and members of other so-called inferior races became exemplary Americans and contributed greatly, in ways too numerous to detail, to the building of this magnificent nation. There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same success. Although children of Mexican immigrants do better, in terms of educational and professional attainment, than their parents, UCLA sociologist Edward Telles has found that the gains don't continue. Indeed, the fourth generation is marginally worse off than the third. James Jackson, of the University of Michigan, has found a similar trend among black Caribbean immigrants, Telles fears that Mexican-Americans may be fated to follow in the footsteps of American blacks—that large parts of the community may become mired (陷入) in a seemingly permanent state of poverty and underachievement. Like African-Americans, Mexican-Americans are increasingly relegated to(降入) segregated(隔离) , substandard schools, and their dropout rate is the highest for any ethnic group in the country. We have learned much about the foolish idea of excluding people on the presumption of the ethnic/racial inferiority. But what we have not yet learned is how to make the process of Americanization work for all. I am not talking about requiring people to learn English or to adopt American ways; those things happen pretty much on their own. But as arguments about immigration heat up the campaign trail, we also ought to ask some broader questions about assimilation (同化) , about how to ensure that people, once outsiders, don ' t forever remain marginalized within these shores. That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented workers, or how best to secure the border, and it is one that affects not only newcomers but groups that have been here for generations. It will have more impact on our future than where we decide to set the admissions bar for the latest wave of would-be Americans. And it would be nice if we finally got the answer right.
Someone asked me last week, "In the long run, is technology our saviour or our demise?" I thought it over, and the thing is, we made technology. It is only an expression of our humanity, so it's wrong to think of it as something given to us by aliens—and then we can blame technology, not ourselves, when something goes wrong. The question that was really asked was, "Are humans going to kill themselves?" The answer would be the exact same answer that would be given 10 years ago, 2,000 years ago or 1,000 years in the future. We're still around, so the answer is no, we're not, but this still doesn't change the fact that we're now stuck living inside the future where we're stuck worrying about this question for all of our waking hours.
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingtable.Youshould1)describethetableand2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)
[A] Analyzing your own taste [B] Being cautious when experimenting [C] Finding a model to follow [D] Getting the final look absolutely right [E] Learning to be realistic [F] Making regular conscious choices [G] Following your taste When we meet people for the first time, we often make decisions about them based entirely on how they look. And, of course it's something that works both ways, for we too are being judged on our appearance. When we look good, we feel good, which in turn leads to a more confident and self-assured manner. People then pick up on this confidence and respond positively towards us. Undoubtedly, what's inside is important, but sometimes we can send out the wrong signals simply by wearing inappropriate clothing or not spending enough time thinking about how others see us. 【R1】______ For example, people often make the mistake of trying to look like someone else they've seen in a magazine, but this is usually a disaster as we all have our own characteristics. Stand in front of a full-length mirror and be honest with yourself about what you see. There is no need to dwell on your faults—we all have good points and bad points—but think instead about the best way to emphasize the good ones. 【R2】______ When selecting your clothes each day, think about who you're likely to meet, where you're going to be spending most of your time and what tasks you are likely to perform. Clearly, some outfits will be more appropriate to different sorts of activity and this will dictate your choice to an extent. However, there's no need to abandon your individual taste completely. After all, if you dress to please somebody else's idea of what looks good, you may end up feeling uncomfortable and not quite yourself. 【R3】______ But to know your own mind, you have to get to know yourself. What do you truly feel good in? There are probably a few favorite items that you wear a lot—most people wear 20 per cent of their wardrobe 80 per cent of the time. Look at these clothes and ask yourself what they have in common. Are they neat and tidy, loose and flowing? Then look at the things hanging in your wardrobe that you don't wear and ask yourself why. Go through a few magazines and catalogues and mark the things that catch your eye. Is there a common theme? 【R4】______ Some colors bring your natural coloring to life and others can give us a washed-out appearance. Try out new colors by all means, but remember that dressing in bright colors when you really like subtle neutral tones, or vice versa, will make you feel self-conscious and uncomfortable. You know deep down where your own taste boundaries lie. And although it's good to challenge those sometimes with new combinations or shades, take care not to go too far all at once. 【R5】______ So, you've chosen an outfit that matches your style, your personality, your shape and your coloring. But does it fit? If something is too tight or too loose, you won't achieve the desired effect, and no matter what other qualities it has, it won't improve your appearance or your confidence. Sometimes, we buy things without thinking. Some people who dislike shopping grab the first thing they see, or prefer to use mail-order or the Internet. In all cases, if it doesn't fit perfectly, don't buy it, because the finer details are just as important as the overall style. Reappraising your image isn't selfish because everyone who comes into contact with you will benefit. You'll look better and you'll feel a better person all round.
Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the Website you've visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits. In fact, it's likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girl friend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen — the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked. Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs(碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret. The key question is: Does that matter? For many Americans, the answer apparently is "no.'' When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found an overwhelming pessimism about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is" slipping away, and that bothers me. But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny fraction of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths(收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acauisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(优惠卷)。 But privacy does matter— at least sometimes. It's like health: When you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.
We're moving into another era, as the toxic(有毒的) effects of the bubble(泡沫) and its grave consequences spread through the financial system. Just a couple of years ago investors dreamed of 20 percent returns forever. Now surveys show that they're down to a "realistic" 8 percent to 10 percent range. But what if the next few years turn out to be below normal expectations? Martin Barners of the Bank Credit Analyst in Montreal expects future stock returns to average just 4 percent to 6 percent. Sound impossible? After a much smaller bubble that burst in the mid-1960s Standard & Poor's 5000 stock average returned 6.9 percent a year (with dividends reinvested) for the following 17 years. Few investors are prepared for that. Right now denial seems to be the attitude of choice. That's typical, says Lori Lucas of Hewitt, the consulting firm. You hate to look at your investments when they're going down. Hewitt tracks 500,000 401 (k) accounts every day, and finds that savers are keeping their contributions up. But they're much less inclined to switch their money around. "It's the slot-machine (老虎机) effect," Lucas says. "People get more interested in playing when they think they've got a hot machine"—and nothing's hot today. The average investor feels overwhelmed. Against all common sense, many savers still shut their eyes to the dangers of owning too much company stock. In big companies last year, a surprising 29 percent of employees held at least three quarters of their 402 (k) in their own stock. Younger employees may have no choice. You often have to wait until you're 50 or 55 before you can sell any company stock you get. But instead of getting out when they can, old participants have been holding, too. One third of the people 60 and up chose company stock for three quarters of their plan, Hewitt reports. Are they inattentive? Loyal excessively? Sick? It's as if Lucent, Enron and Xerox never happened. No investor should give his or her total trust to any particular company's stock. And while you're at it, think how you'd be if future stock returns—averaging good years and bad—are as poor as Barnes predicts. If you ask me, diversified stocks remain good for the long run, with a backup in bonds. But I, too, am figuring on reduced returns. What a shame. Dear bubble, I'll never forget. It's the end of a grand affair.
Not so long ago, it was the stuff of nightmares: you pick up the landline telephone and there's no dialing tone. Nothing. The phone is useless,【C1】______in your hand. For most of the 20th century, this was a horror film stereotype, a symbol of isolation and【C2】______foretold. But just 15 years later, the death of the landline is close to being a【C3】______—and one entirely of our own making. BT has announced plans to【C4】______charges for landline calls, in a bid to maintain commercial feasibility for landline services. The move suggests that BT—which has long【C5】______landlines over mobile calls—may have given up on turning back the clock. In the US, the【C6】______of households that have mobile phone connection but no landline has risen to a quarter. The most recent research in the UK, put the【C7】______figure at 15%. For millions of today's twentysomethings, who have had a mobile number since their teens and for whom a landline makes no【C8】______sense during the transient years before they settle down, the moment of【C9】______into land-line-owning may never come【C10】______it becomes an expensive extra. The death of the landline has gone almost unnoticed. After all, the noise of phone chatting is all around us. What【C11】______does it make whether the cables lie underground or not? A lot,【C12】______. The death of the landline is a cultural【C13】______that affects our personal and public lives. It has separated us【C14】______our groupings—in the office, where email has disconnected us from what the people who sit three feet away do all day, and even more【C15】______, at home. In any household in the days before mobiles【C16】______, the landline served as a switchboard for everyone's connections outside the home.【C17】______families, couples, roommates, it was a kind of【C18】______knowledge map about the state of everyone's romantic and social lives, and one we took for granted. And【C19】______though we are to our mobiles, most of the time we aren't talking but typing. With its arrogant "ignore" button, we all become a little more untouchable in our individual worlds, and less【C20】______.
Bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles in public. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else; the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it's just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch. Unfortunately, banks' lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult. After a bruising encounter with Congress, America's Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognizing losses on long-term assets in their income statement. Bob Herz, the FASB's chairman, cried out against those who "question our motives." Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobby group politely calls "the use of judgment by management." European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes it reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did "not live in a political vacuum" but "in the real word" and that Europe could yet develop different rules. It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But bank's shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are skeptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains. To get the system working again, losses must be recognized and dealt with. America's new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions.
The January fashion show, called FutureFashion, exemplified how far green design has come. Organized by the New York-based nonprofit Earth Pledge, the show inspired many top designers to work with sustainable fabrics for the first time. Several have since made pledges to include organic fabrics in their lines. The designers who undertake green fashion still face many challenges. Scott Hahn, cofounder with Gregory of Rogan and Loomstate, which uses all-organic cotton, says high-quality sustainable materials can still be tough to find. "Most designers with existing labels are finding there aren't comparable fabrics that can just replace what you're doing and what your customers are used to," he says. For example, organic cotton and non-organic cotton are virtually indistinguishable once woven into a dress. But some popular synthetics, like stretch nylon, still have few eco-friendly equivalents. Those who do make the switch are finding they have more support. Last year the influential trade show Designers & Agents stopped charging its participation fee for young green entrepreneurs who attend its two springtime shows in Los Angeles and New York and gave special recognition to designers whose collections are at least 25% sustainable. It now counts more than 50 green designers, up from fewer than a dozen two years ago. This week Wal-Mart is set to announce a major initiative aimed at helping cotton farmers go organic: it will buy transitional (过渡型的) cotton at higher prices, thus helping to expand the supply of a key sustainable material. "Mainstream is about to occur," says Hahn. Some analysts are less sure. Among consumers, only 18% are even aware that ecofashion exists, up from 6% four years ago. Natalie Hormilla, a fashion writer, is an example of the unconverted consumer. When asked if she owned any sustainable clothes, she replied: "Not that I'm aware of." Like most consumers, she finds little time to shop, and when she does, she's on the hunt for "cute stuff that isn't too expensive." By her own admission, green just isn't yet on her mind. But—thanks to the combined efforts of designers, retailers and suppliers—one day it will be.
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
BPart CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese./B
Every Saturday morning, at 9 am, more than 50,000 runners set off to run 5km around their local park. The Parkrun phenomenon began with a dozen friends and has inspired 400 events in the UK and more abroad. Events are free, staffed by thousands of volunteers. Runners range from four years old to grandparents; their times range from Andrew Baddeley' s world record 13 minutes 48 seconds up to an hour. Parkrun is succeeding where London' s Olympic "legacy" is failing. Ten years ago on Monday, it was announced that the Games of the 30th Olympiad would be in London. Planning documents pledged that the great legacy of the Games would be to level a nation of sport lovers away from their couches. The population would be fitter, healthier and produce more winners. It has not happened. The number of adults doing weekly sport did rise, by nearly 2 million in the run—up to 2012—but the general population was growing faster. Worse, the numbers are now falling at an accelerating rate. The opposition claims primary school pupils doing at least two hours of sport a week have nearly halved. Obesity has risen among adults and children. Official retrospections continue as to why London 2012 failed to "inspire a generation". The success of Parkrun offers answers. Parkun is not a race but a time trial; Your only competitor is the clock. The ethos welcomes anybody. There is as much joy over a puffed-out first-timer being clapped over the line as there is about top talent shining. The Olympic bidders, by contrast, wanted to get more people doing sports and to produce more elite athletes. The dual aim was mixed up: The stress on success over taking part was intimidating for newcomers. Indeed, there is something a little absurd in the state getting involved in the planning of such a fundamentally "grassroots" , concept as community sports associations. If there is a role for government , it should really be getting involved in providing common goods—making sure there is space for playing fields and the money to pave tennis and netball courts, and encouraging the provision of all these activities in schools. But successive governments have presided over selling green spaces, squeezing money from local authorities and declining attention on sport in education. Instead of wordy, worthy strategies, future governments need to do more to provide the conditions for sport to thrive. Or at least not make them worse.
BPart B/B
BPart CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese./B
