There are few more sobering online activities than entering data into college-tuition calculators and gasping as the Web spits back a six-figure sum. But economists say families about to go into debt to fund four years of partying, as well as studying, can console themselves with the knowledge that college is an investment that, unlike many bank stocks, should yield huge dividends(红利). A 2008 study by two Harvard economists notes that the "labor-market premium (额外收益) to skill"—or the amount college graduates earned that's greater than what high-school graduates earned—decreased for much of the 20th century, but has come back with a vengeance (报复) since the 1980s. In 2005, the typical full-time year-round U. S. worker with a four-year college degree earned $50 900, 62% more than the $31 500 earned by a worker with only a high-school diploma. There's no question that going to college is a smart economic choice. But a look at the strange variations in tuition reveals that the choice about which college to attend doesn't come down merely to dollars and cents. Does going to Columbia University (tuition, room and board $49 260 in 2007-2008) yield a 40% greater return than attending the University of Colorado at Boulder as an out-of-state student ($35 542)? Probably not. Does being an out-of-state student at the University of Colorado at Boulder yield twice the amount of income as being an in-state student ($17 380) there? Not likely. No, in this consumerist age, most buyers aren't evaluating college as an investment, but rather as a consumer product—like a car or clothes or a house. And with such purchases, price is only one of many crucial factors to consider. As with automobiles, consumers in today's college marketplace have vast choices, and people search for the one that gives them the most comfort and satisfaction in line with their budgets. This accounts for the willingness of people to pay more for different types of experiences (such as attending a private liberal-arts college or going to an out-of-state public school that has a great marine-biology program). And just as two auto purchasers might spend an equal amount of money on very different cars, college students (or, more accurately, their parents) often show a willingness to pay essentially the same price for vastly different products. So which is it? Is college an investment product like a stock or a consumer product like a car? In keeping with the automotive world's hottest consumer trend, maybe it's best to characterize it as a hybrid (混合动力汽车) : an expensive consumer product that, over time, will pay rich dividends.

BPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D./B

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

Thanks to the GPS, the apps on your phone have long been able to determine your general location. But what if they could do so with enough precision that a supermarket, say, could tempt you with digital coupons depending on whether you were hovering near the white bread or the bagels? It may sound far-fetched, but there"s a good chance the technology is already built into your iPhone or Android device. All it takes for retailers to tap into it are small, inexpensive transmitters called beacons. Here"s how it works: using Bluetooth technology, handsets can pinpoint their position to within as little as 2cm by receiving signals from the beacons stores install. Apple"s version of the concept is called iBeacon; it"s in use at its own stores and is being tested by Macy"s, American Eagle, Safeway, the National Football League and Major League Baseball. Companies can then use your location to pelt(连续攻击)you with special offers or simply monitor your movements. But just as with GPS, they won"t see you unless you"ve installed their apps and granted them access. By melding your physical position with facts they"ve already collected about you from rewards programs, brick-and-mortar businesses can finally get the potentially profitable insight into your shopping habits that online merchants now take for granted. The possibilities go beyond coupons. PayPal is readying a beacon that will let consumers pay for goods without swiping a card or removing a phone from their pocket. Doug Thompson of industry site Beekn. net predicts the technology will become an everyday reality by year"s end. But don"t look for stores or venues to call attention to the devices. " People won"t know these beacons are there," he says. "They"ll just know their app has suddenly become smarter. "

BPart BDirections: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following information./B

BPart B/B

Suppose you are going to write for the Postgraduates' Association a notice to recruit volunteers for an international conference on globalization. The notice should 1) include the basic qualifications for applicants and 2) offer information which you think is relevant. You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not sign your own name. Use "Postgraduates' Association" instead. Do not write your address. (10 points)

BPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D./B

Surveys find entrenched(根深蒂固的)pessimism over the country"s economic outlook and overall trajectory(轨道). In the latest Wall Street Journal poll, 63% of the respondents said the US is on the wrong track. It"s not difficult to see why. Set aside the gridlock in Washington for a moment and appreciate the weakness of the economic recovery: Households whose finances were too weak to spend. Large numbers of unemployed workers who couldn"t do so either. Younger Americans who couldn"t afford their own homes. Banks that were too broken to lend. Yet nearly a year ago, I wrote an essay for Time suggesting that the economy could surprise on the upside. That hypothesis looks even more valid today. Despite the pessimistic mood, America is experiencing a profound comeback. Yes, too many Americans are out of work and have been for far too long. And yes, there is a huge amount of slack to make up. In fact, if the 2008 collapse had not happened, the US GDP would be $ 1 trillion—or more than 5%—higher than it is today. But in terms of the growth outlook, the news is good. Goldman Sachs and many private-sector forecasters project a 3. 3% growth rate for the remainder of 2014. The first half of 2014 saw the best job-creation rate in 15 years. Total household wealth and private employment surpassed 2008 levels last year. Bank loans to businesses exceeded previous highs this year. And income growth will soon improve too. America is finally returning to where it was seven years ago. As halting as the US recovery has been, the economy is now leaner and more capable of health-y, sustained growth through 2016 and beyond. The US outlook shines compared with that of the rest of the industrialized world, as Europe and Japan are stagnant. The 2008 economic crisis and Great Recession forced widespread restructuring throughout the US economy—not unlike a company gritting its teeth through a lifesaving bankruptcy. Manufacturing costs are down. The banking system has been recapitalized. The excess and abuse that defined the housing market are gone. And it"s all being turbocharged by an energy boom nobody saw coming.

Amazon today unveiled Dash Buttons, an easy way for customers to【C1】______ select bulk goods【C2】______ an internet-connected button, and yesterday【C3】______ Home Services, an on-demand installation and handyman service. Combined, they show that the e-commerce giant has a clear understanding of how the Internet-of-things will【C4】______ its business. And it isn't going to be shy about capitalizing on connectivity to build its bottom line. Dash Buttons are an adaptation of Amazon's【C5】______ -controlled Dash ordering system that lets people speak to order new【C6】______ items. So【C7】______ Amazon has is a retrofit strategy for connecting smart appliances to its e-commerce operations and a future-facing strategy for the coming flood of【C8】______ devices. And all of this is geared around making buying products from Amazon as easy as possible. The【C9】______ of one-button tasks are appealing,【C10】______ it could lead to a【C11】______ of packages ending up at people's doors if Amazon doesn't try to【C12】______ waste on its end, by grouping shipments together when possible. People on Twitter seem mostly【C13】______ about pets and small children playing with the Dash Buttons and ordering multiples of their Kraft Macaroni and Cheese boxes, although Amazon notes that【C14】______ the button is pressed more than once, the order doesn't go【C15】______ on the second time, and you'll get a smartphone notification about it. Amazon also recently launched Home Services, following up on last year's opening of a home automation e-store devoted to connected gadgets for the home—many of which require a【C16】______ installer. So now Amazon can sell these devices along with the person who can install them. It also is【C17】______ on maintenance, via a network of service providers that it can call【C18】______ for its network of suppliers or for its own planned connected home play. With Dash, it's【C19】______ an offensive play to【C20】______ up more sales as devices come online. With Amazon Home Services, it's making a defensive play as other large companies try to become more vertically integrated.

West London, Friday night, 9 pm. In the Redemption bar, music hums and candles flicker. A barman shakes cocktails under a neon sign. But the noisy drinking often associated with British pubs at the weekend is absent. Although the cocorita is served, it contains no alcohol. Redemption is one of a small but growing number of drinkeries that serve no liquor. Worries about drinking are on the rise. Hospitals complain that alcohol-related admissions are soaring; some police chiefs have called for new powers to tackle disorderly drunks. On February 4th the Home Office announced a new plan that ought to stop retailers from selling alcoholic drinks below cost—something they occasionally do to attract shoppers. This, said Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat, would "stop the worst examples of very cheap and harmful drink". Yet Britain is in many ways becoming more abstemious. In 2001 the average household consumed 1. 5 litres of alcoholic drinks a week; by 2011, the figure had fallen to 1. 1 litres. The young in particular seem to be giving up boozing: over the same period, the number of young men drinking heavily at least once a week fell from 37% to 22%; women became less sozzled, too. Dry bars benefit from this fad: Redemption's customers doubled between December and January. Abstemious bars have also opened in Liverpool and Nottingham. Unlike many cafes, they stay open late. They simulate bars in other ways, with live music, comedy acts and films to pull in customers. When the lights go down and the DJ plays at Sobar, which opened in Nottingham in Januar-y, it looks like any city bar, hopes Alex Gillmore, the manager. Redemption misses the huge profits made on alcohol, but temperance brings its own benefits. Business remains steady throughout the week rather than spiking at the weekend, says Catherine Salway, its founder. Sobar is linked to a do-gooding drug and alcohol charity. But ordinary bars are becoming a little drier, too, out of business sense rather than temperance principle. Pubs can make almost as much selling food as drink—and more are serving it. Both in pubs and at home, less boozy drinks are becoming popular. Total sales of beer by volume dropped slightly in the year to January, but those of the weaker kinds jumped 32%, according to a market-research firm. Sales of "adult" sparkling soft drinks are growing too. Perhaps the cafe-culture British politicians have so long yearned for is at last emerging.

Do people get happier or more foul-tempered as they age? Stereotypes of irritable neighbors【C1】______, scientists have been trying to answer this question for decades, and the results have been【C2】______Now a study of several thousand Americans born between 1885 and 1980 reveals that well-being【C3】______increases with age—but overall happiness【C4】______when a person was born. 【C5】______studies that have【C6】______older adults with the middle-aged and young have sometimes found that older adults are not as happy. But these studies could not【C7】______whether their【C8】______was because of their age or because of their【C9】______life experience. The new study, published online January 24 in Psychological Science ,【C10】______out the answer by examining 30 years of data on thousands of Americans, including【C11】______measures of mood and well-being, reports of job and relationship success, and objective measures of health. The researchers found, after controlling for variables【C12】______health, wealth, gender, ethnicity and education, that well-being increases over everyone's lifetime.【C13】______people who have lived through extreme hardship, such as the Great Depression,【C14】______much less happy than those who have had more【C15】______lives. This finding helps to【C16】______why past studies have found conflicting results—experience【C17】______, and tough times can【C18】______an entire generation's happiness for the rest of their lives. The【C19】______news is,【C20】______we've lived through, we can all look forward to feeling more content as we age.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

Everybody loves a fat pay rise. Yet pleasure at your own can vanish if you learn that a colleague has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he has a reputation for slacking(偷懒) , you might even be outraged. Such behavior is regarded as "all too human" , with the underlying assumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance (不满). But a study by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well. The researchers studied the behavior of female brown capuchin monkeys (僧帽猴). They look cute. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food tardily. Above all, like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of "goods and services" than males. Such characteristics make them perfect candidates for Dr. Brosnan's and Dr. de Waal's study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for slices of cucumber (黄瓜). However, when two monkeys were placed in separate but adjoining chambers, so that each could observe what the other was getting in return for its rock, their behavior became markedly different. In the world of capuchins grapes are luxury goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was reluctant to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either tossed her own token at the researcher or out of the chamber, or refused to accept the slice of cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other chamber (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to induce resentment in a female capuchin. The researches suggest that capuchin monkeys, like humans, are guided by social emotions. In the wild, they are a co-operative, group-living species. Such co-operation is likely to be stable only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of righteous indignation(愤怒) , it seems, are not the preserve of people alone. Refusing a lesser reward completely makes these feelings abundantly clear to other members of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

Suppose you wish to join the dance club of your university. Write a letter of application to the club to 1) tell it you like dancing and you are good at some kinds of dances, and 2) express your wish to join the club. You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address.

BPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D./B

Many people take to social media to share news of big events. On December 1st Facebook's boss, Mark Zuckerberg, followed in the tradition he helped create, when he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced the birth of their daughter on the social-networking site, along with news that they will give away the majority of their fortune during their lifetimes. Around 99% of the shares they own in Facebook, which today are worth around $ 45 billion, will go into the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). Their aim, they wrote, is to improve the world for their daughter and future generations. For now, the move allows Mr. Zuckerberg to relinquish wealth, but not control, as he will retain the votes associated with any shares transferred to CZI. He anticipates remaining the controlling stakeholder of Facebook " for the foreseeable future" , and plans to sell, or give away, no more than $ 1 billion of Facebook stock each year for the next three years. Mr. Zuckerberg is far from the first tech titan to pledge billions to philanthropic activities, but he is following a slightly different path to Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder. Whereas the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a registered charity, the Zuckerbergs' CZI will be a limited liability company ( LLC ). Although charitable status comes with alluring tax breaks, strings are attached. Unlike charities, LLCs can lobby without restriction; the Zuckerbergs have said that CZI will get involved in policy debates. The other flexibility LLC status allows is the freedom to invest in for-profit ventures that have a big social impact. In this, the Zuckerbergs are following in the footsteps of Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, an online marketplace, who grew frustrated by the constraints of charitable status. Mr. Omidyar now oversees the Omidyar Network, which has for-profit and non-profit arms. Will Fitzpatrick, designer of this hybrid structure, claims that the for-profit arm can more easily invest in things that can be scaled up quickly. He gives the example of an investment in a solar lantern that cost less than $ 10 a unit, which meant people did not have to burn dangerous kerosene, and which he says would have been technically difficult to achieve through a private foundation.

In Jonathan Swift"s 1726 novel, "Gulliver"s Travels" , the Yahoos are a degraded band of hu-manoids kept tied in stalls by their captors. It is therefore appropriate that a recent, widely leaked memo from Yahoo"s human-resources manager, Jackie Reses, began with the toe-curling salutation with which managers at the company normally address underlings; "Yahoos". " We can all feel the energy and buzz in our offices," the memo went on. Presumably, though, while some Yahoos are feeling it, others are hanging around at home in their pajamas, for the memo went onto say that from June all Yahoos will be required to turn up in the office unless they have a good excuse. "The best is yet to come," the memo ended—a claim which may sound implausible to the employees of a company whose market capitalisation has fallen from $ 125 billion in 2000 to $ 25 billion now. It is understandable that Marissa Mayer, Yahoo"s recently appointed chief executive, should want to extract some more value from the employees she leads. Google"s workers each generate $ 931,657 revenue, 160% more than the $ 353, 657 produced by each of Yahoo"s employees. And it is also reasonable for a company to want to discourage its employees from behaving like freelances. After all, firms exist largely because people are more productive together than apart. But tying the Yahoos to their stalls in the company"s offices does not seem like the right way to go about boosting their output. Plenty of evidence suggests that letting employees work from home is good for productivity. It allows them to use their time more efficiently and to spend more time with their families and less fuming in traffic jams or squashed on trains. It can reduce companies" costs. Cisco claimed in 2009 that it was saving $ 277m a year by allowing its people to teleeommute. A study by researchers at Stanford and Beijing Universities of a large Chinese travel company compared the performance of employees allowed to work from home with those who were stuck in the office: among the home-workers, job satisfaction rose, staff turnover fell by half and productivity went up by 13%. Hardly surprising, since a lot of people don"t seem to work while they are at work; last year J. C. Penney, an American retailer, discovered that a third of its headquarters" bandwidth was taken up by employees watching YouTube videos.

Older people must be given more chances to learn if they are to contribute to society rather than be a financial burden, according to a new study on population published recently. The current approach which【C1】______ on younger people and on skills for employment is not【C2】______ to meet the challenges of demographic (人口结构的) change, it says. Only 1 % of the education budget is【C3】______ spent on the oldest third of the population. The【C4】______ include the fact that most people can expect to spend a third of their lives in【C5】______ , that there are now more people over 59 than under 16 and that 11.3 million people are【C6】______ state pension age. 【C7】______ needs to continue throughout life. Our historic concentration of policy attention and resources【C8】______ young people cannot meet the new【C9】______ ," says the report's author, Professor Stephen McNair. The major【C10】______ of our education budget is spent on people below the age of 25.【C11】______ people are changing their jobs,【C12】______ , partners and lifestyles more often than【C13】______ , they need opportunities to learn at every age.【C14】______ , some people are starting new careers in their 50s and later. People need opportunities to make a "midlife review" to【C15】______ to the later stages of employed life, and to plan for the transition【C16】______ retirement, which may now happen【C17】______ at any point from 50 to over 90, says McNair. And there should be more money【C18】______ to support people in establishing a【C19】______ of identity and finding constructive 20 for the "third age" , the【C20】______ or more years they will spend in healthy retired life.

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