If comfortably outpacing your rivals is the main measure of automotive achievement, Tesla's electric car is a resounding success. The Model S last year outsold its nearest luxury rival, Mercedes's petrol-engined S-class, by 30% in America. And in its top specification the Tesla will also beat the German car in the race from 0-60mph. As a battery-maker Tesla is also moving fast. This week it announced plans to build a "gigafactory" in America to make lithium-ion power-packs, that it hopes will propel its vehicles to the mainstream. Tesla's acceleration has been rapid. Launched a decade ago by Elon Musk, a founder of PayPal and serial tech entrepreneur, last year it sold around 22,000 cars and by the end of 2014 hopes to be making 1,000 a week. In early 2015 Tesla will add the Model X, a medium-sized SUV, to its range. However, Tesla's impressive growth has not yet translated into significant profits. A series of battery fires also briefly dented sales growth last year. Nevertheless, Tesla's shares surged on February 25th, to value the company at over $ 30 billion after Morgan Stanley, a bank, joined its adoring fans. It reckons that the battery factory will not only propel it along the road to mass manufacturing but also make it a leading competitor in low-cost energy storage, the key to making renewable energy more practical. The bank is also confident that Tesla's Silicon Valley location will put it in the driverless front seat of autonomous motoring. A recent meeting with Apple, and the iPad-like control panel of the Model S, have convinced some observers that a takeover and an iCar are around the corner, although Mr Musk insists that his firm is not for sale. Tesla has defied its doubters with the success of the Model S, a smartly styled luxury car. It may not share the outrageous looks of a supercar like the Lamborghini Aventador, but it has the performance without the $ 400,000-plus price tag. The most basic Model S costs $ 64,000 in America. This has won it rave reviews in the motoring press, often sniffy about other electric cars with limited ranges and duff looks. By designing a large car with a big battery pack, Tesla has diminished "range anxiety"—one version can do 310 miles (500km) between charges.

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

Directions: Successful sports professionals can earn a great deal more money than people in other important professions. Some people think it is fully justified, while others think it is unfair. Which side do you agree with? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on sports professionals' earning. You can take either stand and provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.

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

Crying and waking up in the middle of night are routine during any newborn"s first few months. But if those crying episodes continue on a regular【C1】______past the first year, then they may signal possible behavioral problems【C2】______. That"s what researchers in Europe found when they【C3】______nearly two dozen studies on something developmental experts call regulatory problems—which include trouble sleeping, continuous crying and difficulty feeding. The researchers【C4】______in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood that infants who consistently cry and wake up at night past their third month are nearly twice as likely to【C5】______problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, aggressive behavior or【C6】______disorders by the time they begin school. The most【C7】______behavioral difficulties these children had involved【C8】______of self-control, and an inability to calm themselves down or act【C9】______in different social situations. How exactly are【C10】______crying jags and picky eating during infancy【C11】______later behavioral problems? Dieter Wolke, one of the study co-authors and a professor of developmental psychology at University of Warwick in England, says the data don"t support any【C12】______link, but there are several possibilities. One, the crying and waking up at night are simply the first signs of behavioral problems that the babies can not【C13】______themselves very well. Every baby wakes up several times a night and may start crying, but most will eventually learn to calm themselves down and【C14】______back to sleep. They learn that enough is e-nough and inevitably【C15】______that Mom and Dad won"t come running every time they cry. If babies are already【C16】______to contracting a behavioral disorder, 【C17】______, they may not be able to learn such self-control, and their crying episodes may continue well past their first year. 【C18】______, says Wolke, some infants may be genetically susceptible to problems regulating their behavior; specifically, scientists have recently identified a version of a【C19】______concerning dopamine function, which governs mood and emotions as well as motor function, that may make some infants more【C20】______to behavioral problems.

On how the world has changed over the last 50 years, not all of it has been good. As you are looking for organic food information, you have obviously become aware that a better alternative exists and you are taking a critical look at the source and production practices of the companies producing the world's food supplies. The purpose of organic food information is to give you an understanding of what is going into your food. You will see that there are many benefits to organic food that you didn't know before. The basis behind knowing about organic food information is the fact that farmers are resorting to using artificial fertilizers and pesticides (杀虫剂) to control disease and insect attack in order to produce more crops to satisfy growing demand. These artificial fertilizers leave something poisonous in and on the fruit and vegetables we consume which in turn is absorbed and stored by our bodies. Even the quality of food has gone down in recent years. Today's fruits have nowhere near the Vitamin C levels they did at one time. However, with organic food information you learn that organic food has fifty percent more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than any other form of produce that has been grown under intensive farming. If you are eating non-organic produce you will have to eat more fruit in order to make up for this deficiency. But then the dangerous cycle continues since you will be eating more chemicals that are worse for your health than they are good for you. Another aspect of organic food information is the production of meat and poultry (家禽). Most only consider produce when it comes to organic food information disregarding the antibiotics(抗生素) and hormones that are given to both cattle and poultry that are being force fed. Ask yourself what happens to all these antibiotics and hormones when the animal is killed, the remaining of these antibiotics and growth hormones reside in the meat which are then consumed, digested and stored in human bodies. There is no way that an animal that isn't kept in healthy conditions can produce healthy food for humans to eat. You have nothing to lose by trying organic product, not only will it be healthy for you but you will also be able to eat produce and meat the way they are supposed to be. You will likely be so impressed with the taste of organic fruit that you will never return to the mass-produced fruit again. While cost and availability can be a big issue for some, you can do a bit of research online and find a local store that stocks organic produce for a reasonable price.

Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,2)explainthephenomenon,and3)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

You are going to read a list of headings and a text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list[A]to[G]for each numbered paragraph (41-45). There are two extra subheadings which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)[A]Neighborhood[B]The Price of the House[C]Your Financial Situation[D]What Comes with the Home[E]How Much Property Tax You Pay[F]Home's History[G]Annoying Factors Buying a house is an exciting but scary step. Home ownership means making an investment in your future, but it also means committing to stay put, at least for a while. Before you make that commitment, you should ensure you are making an informed decision, and not one based on how beautiful the home is or your desire to be on your own. 【R1】______ Just because you qualify for a loan does not necessarily mean you should take a loan. On the other hand, if you don't think you can qualify for a loan, you might be mistaken. When you consider buying a home, sit down with a professional—a loan counselor at your bank or a representative from the U. S. Housing and Urban Development, for instance—and discuss your options. Have tax and income documents ready, as well as a list of your expenses and a copy of your credit report. Ask the professional to help you get a good picture of your earnings, expenses and how they would change if you bought a home. 【R2】______ A beautiful home on several acres of green yard might look appealing, but that pretty picture could be hiding problems that will cost you thousands of dollars and hours of lost sleep in the long run. You should find out as much as you can about the home before you buy. Even issues that have been repaired can give you insight into what problems you might be facing a few years down the road. Get a home inspection and carefully go over the results with your inspector. If anything in the home makes you suspicious , don't hesitate to order another inspection from a different company. 【R3】______ A wonderful home isn't much good if it is in a terrible area, so find out as much as you can about the environment before you buy. Talk to potential neighbors about any issues the area has been facing, and check to see if there is a community association or club. Scan newspaper police blotters to see if there is a large amount of crime in the area, and interview principals and teachers at the area schools, if you have children. The aesthetic appearance of the community is also important. You probably would not want to move into a home where yours is the only house on the street that is not falling down. 【R4】______ It is customary for home owners to leave some major appliances, like the refrigerator and dishwasher, when they leave the home, but if you see anything else that you like, check if it is for sale. Some sellers won't mind throwing their furniture or decorations in with the home since they are moving anyway. Also, confirm the land boundaries and whether outdoor structures, like portable sheds and above-ground pools, will be included before you sign on the dotted line. 【R5】______ Every home has its drawbacks: the third step creaks, or the neighbor's cat likes to lounge on your porch. Even if you are moving to a brand-new home, there are bound to be some unpleasant factors about your new home and your new location. However, try your hardest before you buy your home to know the difference between small unpleasant issues and deal breakers. Visit the home you are planning to buy as many times as you can; stay overnight if possible. Look for anything that would bother you on a daily basis, and if you find something, look for another home.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

Last week I had lunch with a man who used to be one of the most senior bankers in the UK. The trouble with business today, he complained over coffee, was that there was no common sense any more. Such sense, he insisted, had always been uncommon—but now was extinct. The reason common sense is squashed in this way is insecurity. Most people in business live in fear of being found out, and sounding clever seems a safer bet than being understood. As more people try to sound clever, the standard gets tougher, and before long formerly sensible people start talking absolute rot. Recently I read an interview with a senior manager at Amazon in which he explained the secret to his hiring success: "Your bar raiser should also run the debrief after every hiring loop." The next enemy of common sense is self-importance, which not only makes business people lose the plot at work, but at home too. On LinkedIn the other day a former chief operating officer of eBay boasted that he was so busy he bought a house without even looking at it properly, and that his wife once delivered clean underwear to the office after he had worked all night. A five-year old could have told him that this is no way to live, and that if you are caught without clean underpants, or end up buying a house having hardly looked at it, it is better to keep quiet. Human weakness is not the only destroyer of common sense; the corporate machine does so equally powerfully. Departments such as HR and PR routinely eliminate any lurking pools of rationality, while interdepartmental rivalries, budgets and regulations of any kind all tend to ensure that few things are ever done sensibly. The only way of safeguarding common sense in business is to grow your own, and become an entrepreneur. A couple of months ago I helped judge a competition for new businesses. One of the winners made charging points for electric cars; another had developed a sort of Netflix for magazines. Both were good ideas, with good business plans and founders who spoke lucidly about what they were doing. I don't know if either will succeed. But I do know that if they do, their good sense will be under attack.

In a time of low academic achievement by children in the United States, many Americans are turning to Japan, a country of high academic achievement and economic success, for possible answers. However, the answers provided by Japanese preschools are not the ones Americans expected to find. In most Japanese preschools, surprisingly little emphasis is put on academic instruction. In one investigation, 300 Japanese and 210 American preschool teachers, child development specialists, and parents were asked about various aspects of early childhood education. Only 2 percent of the Japanese respondents listed "to give children a good start academically" as one of their top three reasons for a society to have preschools. In contrast, over half the American respondents chose this as one of their top three choices. To prepare children for successful careers in first grade and beyond, Japanese schools do not teach reading, writing, and mathematics, but rather skills such as persistence, concentration, and the ability to function as a member of a group. The vast majority of young Japanese children are taught to read at home by their parents. In the recent comparison of Japanese and American preschool education, 91 percent of Japanese respondents chose providing children with a group experience as one of their top three reasons for a society to have preschools. Sixty-two percent of the more individually oriented Americans listed group experience as one of their top three choices. An emphasis on the importance of the group seen in Japanese early childhood education continues into elementary school education. Like in America, there is diversity in Japanese early childhood education. Some Japanese kindergartens have specific aims, such as early musical training or potential development. In large cities, some kindergartens are attached to universities that have elementary and secondary schools. Some Japanese parents believe that if their young children attend a university-based program, it will increase the children's chances of eventually being admitted to top-rated schools and universities. Several more progressive programs have introduced free play as a way out for the heavy intellectualizing in some Japanese kindergartens.

Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

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

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.

Most people can identify their top priority at work, Generally, it will be the part of the job that is most productive for their employer: for a merger and acquisitions banker, it could be landing a big deal for a client; for a lorry driver, the punctual delivery of an important consignment; for a hospital doctor or nurse, giving vital treatment to a patient. But every job is ringed with secondary tasks—the routine but critical stuff covered by codes and guidelines. If such chores are neglected, the consequences may undermine overall success. New research suggests tired workers in demanding jobs start giving up doing those small, but vital, tasks remarkably quickly. Peter Thiel, the entrepreneur, wrote in the FT last week that computers "excel at efficient data processing but struggle to make basic judgments". In other words, humans are not redundant. But the flesh-and-blood workers who remain now have greater responsibility for more important tasks. If companies pile more work on to them, these weary employees could inadvertently plunge them into disaster. It is a truism that a tired worker is less productive than a fresh one. But researchers at Wharton business schools have shown that compliance with routine tasks can fall away within one heavy shift. Their study's focus was hand hygiene, healthcare's mundane but powerful weapon against cross-infection. Such is the importance of sanitisation—when done thoroughly, it can reduce infection by the MRSA "superbug" by 95 per cent—that hospitals have started to monitor compliance, using electronic tags in sanitisers and workers' badges. Each time a member of staff skips the sanitiser, the omission is logged. The extraordinarily rich anonymised information from such a system is a treasure trove for big data researchers such as Wharton's Katherine Milkman. Analysing 13.8 million "unique hand hygiene opportunities" for more than 4,000 staff at 35 hospitals, she and her co-authors found that over a 12-hour shift compliance by an average staff member fell by 8.5 percentage points. Lax handwashing, they suggest, could be costing $25 billion annually in treatment of unnecessary infection in the US—and leading to 70,000 needless deaths. As Prof. Milkman explained to me last week, the fact that intense work makes it harder to do less important tasks could have profound implications in other walks of life. The study points out that "these deviations pose a threat to the wellbeing of organizations, employees and clients, because such violations can reduce the quality of products produced and services provided as well as creating an unsafe work environment". Suddenly, it is a little clearer why the exhausted M&A banker skips parts of the ethical code her bank insists on, or why the tired lorry driver jumps the lights to make it to the depot on time. The work could offer clues about how to make sure the steeplejack always checks his harness, even on the final ascent of the skyscraper, and the weary journalist reads through her story for possible errors on deadline.[A] humans are not needed any more in computer age.[B] the abundant anonymised information from the system.[C] weary workers are likely to stop doing small but important things.[D] intense work makes it harder to do some important work.[E] how to make people reduce mistakes in routine work.[F] the efficiency of workers will fall away in a heavy shift.[G] tired workers could inadvertently plunge their company into disaster.

"Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists?" Rick Scott, the Florida governor, once asked. A leader of a prominent Internet company once told me that the firm regards admission to Harvard as a useful proof of talent, but a college education itself as useless. Parents and students themselves are acting on these principles, retreating from the humanities. I've been thinking about this after reading Fareed Zakaria's smart new book, In Defense of a Liberal Education. Like Mr. Zakaria, I think that the liberal arts teach critical thinking. So, to answer the skeptics, here are my three reasons the humanities enrich our souls and sometimes even our pocketbooks as well. First, liberal arts equip students with communications and interpersonal skills that are valuable and genuinely rewarded in the labour force, especially when accompanied by technical abilities. "A broad liberal arts education is a key pathway to success in the 21st-century economy," says Lawrence Katz, a labour economist at Harvard. Professor Katz says that the economic return to pure technical skills has flattened, and the highest return now goes to those who combine soft skills—excellence at communicating and working with people—with technical skills. My second reason: We need people conversant with the humanities to help reach wise public policy decisions, even about the sciences. Technology companies must constantly weigh ethical decisions. To weigh these issues, regulators should be informed by first-rate science, but also by first-rate humanism. When the President's Council on Bioethics issued its report in 2002, "Human Cloning and Human Dignity," it depends upon the humanities to shape judgments about ethics, limits and values. Third, wherever our careers lie, much of our happiness depends upon our interactions with those around us, and there's some evidence that literature nurtures a richer emotional intelligence. Science magazine published five studies indicating that research subjects who read literary fiction did better at assessing the feelings of a person in a photo than those who read nonfiction or popular fiction. Literature seems to offer lessons in human nature that help us decode the world around us and be better friends. Literature also builds bridges of understanding. In short, it makes eminent sense to study coding and statistics today, but also history and literature.

More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club. We spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. According to a survey, the number of people who said they【C1】______regular exercise, has been rising. And yet obesity【C2】______have risen significantly: a third of Americans are obese, and another third【C3】______as overweight by the Federal Government's【C4】______. Yes, it's entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised【C5】______. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise,【C6】______I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don't. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight? The【C7】______wisdom that exercise is essential for shedding pounds is actually fairly【C8】______. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against【C9】______exercise, particularly for older adults who could【C10】______themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of【C11】______—those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly【C12】______. "In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty【C13】______," says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn't as important【C14】______helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on【C15】______like The Biggest Loser. The basic problem is that【C16】______it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can【C17】______hunger. That causes us to eat more, which【C18】______can deny the weight-loss benefits we just【C19】______. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it【C20】______.

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

Restrictions on the use of plastic bags have not been so successful in some regions. "White Pollution" is still going on. Write a letter to the editor(s) of your local newspaper to 1) give your opinions briefly, and 2) make two or three suggestions. You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write the address. (10 points)