BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B
BSection III Writing/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
BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B
There were some consistent patterns among the heavier readers: For the younger children— ages 6 to 11—being read aloud to regularly and having restricted online time were correlated with frequent reading; for the older children—ages 12 to 17—one of the largest predictors was whether they had time to read on their own during the school day.
The finding about reading aloud to children long after toddlerhood may come as a surprise to some parents who read books to children at bedtime when they were very young but then
tapered off
. Last summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced a new policy recommending that all parents read to their children from birth.
"A lot of parents assume that once kids begin to read independently, that now that is the best thing for them to do," said Maggie McGuire, the vice president for a website for parents operated by Scholastic. But reading aloud through elementary school seemed to be connected to a love of reading generally. According to the report, 41 percent of frequent readers ages 6 to 10 were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to.
Of course, children who love to read are generally immersed in households with lots of books and parents who like to read. So while parents who read to their children later in elementary school may encourage those children to become frequent readers on their own, such behavior can also result from "a whole constellation of other things that goes on in those families," said Timothy Shanahan, a past president of the International Reading Association.
There is not yet strong research that connects reading aloud at older ages to improved reading comprehension. But some literacy experts said that when parents or teachers read aloud to children even after they can read themselves, the children can hear more complex words or stories than they might tackle themselves.
"It's this idea of marinating children in higher-level vocabulary," said Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld.Org, a nonprofit group that works to increase literacy among young people. "The read-aloud can really lift the child." Other literacy experts say the real value of reading to children is helping to develop background knowledge in all kinds of topics as well as exposure to sophisticated language.
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
Directions: In this section, you are asked to write an essay based on the following information. Make comments and express your own opinion. You should write at least 150 words. 如今有很多大学鼓励学生参与志愿者工作。多数人表示赞同，认为它对大学生有很大的好处。你同意吗?
During the past two decades astonishing progress has been made in fighting infectious diseases in poor countries. Polio has almost been eradicated; malaria is being tamed; AIDS is slowly being brought under control. Yet almost unnoticed, another
epidemic
is raging across the developing world, this one man-made.
Road crashes now kill 1.3 m people a year, more than malaria or tuberculosis. On present trends, by 2030 they will take a greater toll than the two together, and greater even than AIDS. The vast majority of victims die in poor and middle-income countries—1. 2m in 2011, compared with 99, 000 in rich ones. For every 100,000 cars in the rich world, fewer than 15 people die each year. In Ethiopia the figure is 250 times higher.
It is tempting to see the kill as the price of development. Building roads is a highly effective way of boosting growth: the World Bank finds many projects to fund that do better than its minimum acceptable economic rate of return of 12%. In the rich world road deaths and growth went hand-in-hand for decades; the first death-by-car was in 1896 and the peak came in the 1970s.
However, since then, restraints on drivers and investment in safety have slashed road deaths in the rich world by more than half. New York"s roads are now at their safest since records began in 1910. Sweden is still some way from its stated goal of ending road deaths altogether, but in 2013 just one Swedish child under seven died in a crash. Technology such as alcolocks, which prevent drunk-driving, and self-driving cars will make roads in the rich world safer still.
Governments in poor countries tend to assume that they, too, must see deaths soar before they are rich enough to think about saving lives. Aid donors and development banks may conclude that a dangerous road is better than no road at all. But the experience of rich countries has shown that roads can be made safer cheaply and simply. And far from being an unaffordable luxury, safe roads make better economic sense than dangerous ones. Most crash victims are boys and working-age men. Their death or disability leaves families in poverty and deprives countries of their most economically valuable citizens. In medical bills, care, lost output and vehicle damage, the kill costs desperately poor countries as much as 10% of GDP.
BSection II Reading Comprehension/B
BPart ADirections: Write a composition/letter of no less than 100 words on the following information./B
Directions: Suppose you found a loop of keys in the library. Write a notice to 1) make it known, and 2) ask for claim at your dorm. You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2. Do not use your own name at the end of the notice. Use "Li Ming" instead.
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyouressay,youshould(1)interpretthechart,and(2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)
BPart BDirections: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following information./B
Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects. Located on the shore of Sullivan's Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane Hugo 10 years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36 000 homes in the state. Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina's shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building codes wasn't strict, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. In Hugo's wake, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan's Island should be able to withstand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour. At first sight, the house on Sullivan's Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble "a large party lantern" at night, according to one observer. But looks can be deceiving. The house's wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give it extra strength. To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings—long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also elevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the house instead of running into it. "These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beachfront buildings." said Huff. Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house's ground-to-roof shell. "The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn't look like it' s standing with its pant legs pulled up." said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.
BSection III Writing/B
BPart CDirections: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese./B
Many people think name is very important for a person, but others don"t agree. In this section, you are asked to write an essay on the importance of a name. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.
Writeanessaybasedonthechartbelow.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsneatlyontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)
Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyouressay,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)
BPart B/B