While western governments worry over the threat of Ebola, a more pervasive but far less harmful【C1】______ is spreading through their populations like a winter sniffle: mobile personal technology. The similarity between disease organisms and personal devices is【C2】______. Viruses and other parasites control larger organisms,【C3】______ resources in order to multiply and spread. Smartphones and other gadgets do the same thing,【C4】______ ever-increasing amounts of human attention and electricity supplied【C5】______ wire umbilici. It is tempting to【C6】______ a "strategy" to both phages and phablets, neither of which is sentient. 【C7】______, the process is evolutionary, consisting of many random evolutions, 【C8】______ experimented with by many product designers. This makes it all the more powerful. Tech【C9】______ occurs through actively-learnt responses, or "operant conditioning" as animal be haviourists call it. The scientific parallel here also involves a rodent, typically a rat, which occupies a【C10】______ cage called a Skinner Box. The animal is【C11】______ with a food pellet for solving puzzles and punished with an electric shock when it fails. "Are we getting a positive boost of hormones when we【C12】______ look at our phone, seeking rewards?" asks David Shuker, an animal behaviourist at St Andrews university, sounding a little like a man withholding serious scientific endorsement【C13】______ an idea that a journalist had in the shower. Research is needed, he says. Tech tycoons would meanwhile【C14】______ that the popularity of mobile devices is attributed to the brilliance of their designs. This is precisely what people whose thought processes have been【C15】______ by an invasive pseudo-organism would believe. 【C16】______, mobile technology causes symptoms less severe than physiological diseases. There are even benefits to【C17】______ sufferers for shortened attention spans and the caffeine overload triggered by visits to Starbucks for the free Wi-Fi. Most importantly, you can【C18】______ the Financial Times in places as remote as Alaska or Sidcup. In this【C19】______, a mobile device is closer to a symbiotic organism than a parasite. This would make it【C20】______ to an intestinal bacterium that helps a person to stay alive, rather than a virus that may kill you.

Nowadays, amateur photography has become a troubling issue. Citizens of rich countries have got used to being watched by closed-circuit cameras that【C1】______roads and cities. But as cameras【C2】______and the cost of storing data decreases rapidly, it is individuals who are taking the pictures. Some 10,000 people are already testing a【C3】______of Google Glass. It aims to reproduce all the functions of a smartphone in a device placed on a person"s nose. Its flexible frame holds both a camera and a【C4】______screen, and makes it easy for users to take photos, send【C5】______and search for things online. Glass may fail, but a wider revolution is under way. In Russia, where insurance【C6】______is common, at least 1 million cars already have cameras with them that film the road ahead. Police forces in America are starting to【C7】______officers with video cameras, pinned to their uniforms, which record their interactions with the public. Widespread recording can already do a lot of good. Car-cams can help resolve insurance claims and encourage people to drive better. Police-cams can discourage criminals from making groundless complaints【C8】______police officers and officers from【C9】______the suspects. Optimists see broader benefits【C10】______Plenty of people carry activity trackers to【C11】______their exercise or sleep patterns; cameras could do the job more effectively, perhaps also【C12】______their wearers" diets. "Personal black boxes" might be able to transmit pictures【C13】______their owner falls victim to an accident or crime. Not everybody will be【C14】______by these prospects. A perfect digital memory would probably be a pain, preserving unhappy events as well as【C15】______ones Suspicious spouses and employers might feel【C16】______review it. The bigger worry is for those in front of the cameras, not【C17】______them. The web is filled with sneaky photos of women,【C18】______in public places. Wearable cameras will make such furtive photography easier. The combination of cameras everywhere—in bars, on streets, in offices, on people"s heads—is a powerful and【C19】______one. We may not be far from a world【C20】______which your movements could be tracked all the time.

Writeanessaybasedonthechartbelow.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsneatlyontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

Drinking water and water for domestic use often come from groundwater. In order to protect this water, local water authorities can apply to local administrative authorities to mark certain locations as water protection areas. The size of these areas is calculated in such a way that the quantity of groundwater taken from them corresponds to the actual rainfall going into them. In the water protection areas certain uses of the land and activities on the land are banned or restricted. Water protection areas fall into three zones. Zone 3 is the outermost zone with a diameter of 4 kilometers around the groundwater well. Here no chemical works or the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) are allowed. Zone 2 is determined around the so-called 50-day line. It is assumed that after 50 days in the groundwater harmful bacteria will have died off. Here settlements and fertilizer storage are forbidden. Zone 1 marks the ten-meter boundary around the well. Here, any use of the land, as well as access by unauthorized persons, is forbidden.

BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B

Some people think we should keep all the money we earn and not pay tax to the state. To what extent do you agree or disagree? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on the money we earn and the tax. You can take either stand and provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.

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

[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.

The concept of man versus machine is at least as old as the industrial revolution, but this phenomenon tends to be most acutely felt during economic downturns and fragile recoveries. And yet, it would be a mistake to think we are right now simply experiencing the painful side of a boom and bust cycle. Certain jobs have gone away for good, outmoded by machines. Since technology has such an insatiable appetite for eating up human jobs, this phenomenon will continue to restructure our economy in ways we can' t immediately foresee. When there is exponential improvement in the price and performance of technology, jobs that were once thought to be immune from automation suddenly become threatened. This argument has attracted a lot of attention, via the success of the book Race Against the Machine, by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who both hail from MIT' s Center for Digital Business. This is a powerful argument, and a scary one. And yet, John Hagel, author of The Power of Pull and other books, says Brynjolfsson and McAfee miss the reason why these jobs are so vulnerable to technology in the first place. Hagel says we have designed jobs in the U.S. that tend to be "tightly scripted" and "highly standardized" ones that leave no room for "individual initiative or creativity." In short, these are the types of jobs that machines can perform much better at than human beings. That is how we have put a giant target sign on the backs of American workers, Hagel says. It' s time to reinvent the formula for how work is conducted, since we are still relying on a very 20th century notion of work, Hagel says. In our rapidly changing economy, we more than ever need people in the workplace who can take initiative and exercise their imagination "to respond to unexpected events." That' s not something machines are good at. They are designed to perform very predictable activities. As Hagel notes, Brynjolfsson and McAfee indeed touched on this point in their book. We need to reframe race against the machine as race with the machine. In other words, we need to look at the ways in which machines can augment human labor rather than replace it. So then the problem is not really about technology, but rather, "how do we innovate our institutions and our work practices?"

Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. "Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd," William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word "habit" carries a negative implication. So it seems paradoxical (自相矛盾的) to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks. Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives. But don't bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they're there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads. "The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination (迷恋) with wonder," says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. "But we are taught instead to 'decide,' just as our president calls himself 'the Decider'." She adds, however, that "to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities. " All of us work through problems in ways of which we're unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways; analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life. The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. "This breaks the major rule in the American belief system — that anyone can do anything," explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will. . . and Ms. Markova's business partner. "That's a lie that we have perpetuated (保持) , and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you're good at and doing even more of it creates excellence." This is where developing new habits comes in.

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

BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B

Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $ 26 a barrel, up from less than $ 10 last December. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary (可怕的) memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled (成四倍) and 1979—1980, when they also almost tripled. Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time? The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term. Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted (温和的) effect on pump prices than in the past. Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings(摆动) in the oil price. Energy conservation(节约) , a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries have reduced oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP (in constant prices) rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1973. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, if oil prices averaged $ 22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $ 13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 0.25% -0.5% of GDP. That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies — to which heavy industry has shifted — have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed. One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist's commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%.

BSection III Writing/B

BSection III Writing/B

BSection III Writing/B

BPart CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese./B

Suppose you are organizing a group of students to visit a historical exhibition in a small town. Write a letter to 1) ask for information about the contents of the exhibition, and 2) the dates of its opening and closing and any discounts available. You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address. (10 points)

[A] Physical changes[B] Low self-esteem[C] Emerging independence and search for identity[D] Emotional turbulence[E] Interest in the opposite sex[F] Peer pressure and conformity[G] Transition to adulthood The transition to adulthood is difficult. Rapid physical growth begins in early adolescence — typically between the ages of 9 and 13 — and thought processes start to take on adult characteristics. Many youngsters find these changes distressing because they do not fully understand what is happening to them. Fears and anxieties can be put to rest by simply keeping an open line of communication and preparing for change before it occurs. The main issues that arise during adolescence are: 【R1】______ A child's self-worth is particularly fragile during adolescence. Teenagers often struggle with an overwhelming sense that nobody likes them, that they're not as good as other people, that they are failures, losers, ugly or unintelligent. 【R2】______ Some form of bodily dissatisfaction is common among pre-teens. If dissatisfaction is great, it may cause them to become shy or very easily embarrassed. In other cases, teens may act the opposite — loud and angry — in an effort to compensate for feelings of self-consciousness and inferiority. As alarming as these bodily changes can be, adolescents may find it equally distressing to not experience the changes at the same time as their peers. Late maturation can cause feelings of inferiority and awkwardness. 【R3】______ Young people feel more strongly about everything during adolescence. Fears become more frightening, pleasures become more exciting, irritations become more distressing and frustrations become more intolerable. Every experience appears king-sized during adolescence. Youngsters having a difficult adolescence may become seriously depressed and/or engage in self-destructive behavior. Often, the first clue that a teenager needs professional help is a deep-rooted shift in attitude and behavior. Parents should be alert to the warning signs of personality change indicating that a teenager needs help. They include repeated school absences, slumping grades, use of alcohol or illegal substances, hostile or dangerous behavior and extreme withdrawal and reclusiveness. 【R4】______ There is tremendous pressure on adolescents to conform to the standards of their peers. This pressure toward conformity can be dangerous in that it applies not only to clothing and hairstyles; it may lead them to do things that they know are wrong. 【R5】______ Adolescence marks a period of increasing independence that often leads to conflict between teenagers and parents. This tension is a normal part of growing up — and for parents, a normal part of the letting-go process. Another normal part of adolescence is confusion over values and beliefs. This time of questioning is important as young people examine the values they have been taught and begin to embrace their own beliefs. Though they may adopt the same beliefs as their parents, discovering them on their own enables the young person to develop a sense of integrity. Although adolescence will present challenges for young people and their parents, awareness and communication can help pave the way for a smooth transition into this exciting phase of life.

Before a big exam, a sound night's sleep will do you more good than poring over textbooks. That, at least, is the folk wisdom. And science, in the form of behavioral psychology, supports that wisdom. But such behavioral studies cannot distinguish between two competing theories of why sleep is good for the memory. One says that sleep is when permanent memories form. The other says that they are actually formed during the day, but then "edited" at night, to flush away what is superfluous. To tell the difference, it is necessary to look into the brain of a sleeping person, and that is hard. But after a decade of painstaking work, a team led by Pierre Maquet at Liege University in Belgium has managed to do it. The particular stage of sleep in which the Belgian group is interested in is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when brain and body are active, heart rate and blood pressure increase, the eyes move back and forth behind the eyelids as if watching a movie, and brainwave traces resemble those of wakefulness. It is during this period of sleep that people are most likely to relive events of the previous day in dreams. Dr. Maquet used an electronic device called PET to study the brains of people as they practiced a task during the day, and as they slept during the following night. The task required them to press a button as fast as possible, in response to a light coming on in one of six positions. As they learnt how to do this, their response times got faster. What they did not know was that the appearance of the lights sometimes followed a pattern — what is referred to as "artificial grammar". Yet the reductions in response time showed that they learnt faster when the pattern was present than when there was not. What is more, those with more to learn (i.e., the "grammar", as well as the mechanical task of pushing the button) have more active brains. The "editing" theory would not predict that, since the number of irrelevant stimuli would be the same in each case. And to eliminate any doubts that the experimental subjects were learning as opposed to unlearning, their response times when they woke up were even quicker than when they went to sleep. The team, therefore, concluded that the nerve connections involved in memory are reinforced through reactivation during REM sleep, particularly if the brain detects an inherent structure in the material being learnt. So now, on the eve of that crucial test, maths students can sleep soundly in the knowledge that what they will remember the next day are the basic rules of algebra and not the incoherent talk from the radio next door.