Is Stanford still a university? The Wall Street Journal recently reported that more than a dozen students have left school to work on a new technology start-up called Clinkle. Faculty members have【C1】______, the former dean of Stanford"s business school is on the board, and one computer-science professor who taught several of the employees now owns【C2】______. The founder of Clinkle was an undergraduate advisee of the president of the university, John Hennessy, who has also been advising the company. Clinkle【C3】______mobile payments, and, if all goes well, there will be many payments to many people on【C4】______. Maybe, as it did with Google, Stanford will get stock grants. There are【C5】______of interest here; and questions of power dynamics. The leadership of a university has encouraged an【C6】______in which students drop out in order to do something that will【C7】______the faculty. Stanford has been【C8】______in this direction for a while. As Ken Auletta reported in this magazine a year ago, the【C9】______between Stanford and Silicon Valley are【C10】______. Federal Telegraph was started by a Stanford grad a hundred and four years ago. William Hewlett and David Packard started inventing things as students, as did the Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Stanford feeds Silicon Valley, and Silicon Valley【C11】______Stanford. You can"t have one【C12】______the other. But what"s the point of having a great university among the palm trees【C13】______students feel like they have to treat their professors as【C14】______investors, found companies before they can legally drink, and drop out in an effort to get rich fast? Shouldn"t it be a place to drift, to think, to read, to meet new people, and to work at whatever【C15】______you? And Stanford has, in its day, produced a great variety of graduates: hippies, novelists, politicians,【C16】______dropouts, and, of course, athletes. Now,【C17】______, it seems like all the countless identities are being included. Students can still study Chaucer, and there are still lovely palm trees. But the center of【C18】______at the university appears to have【C19】______. The school now【C20】______a giant tech incubator with a football team.

Suppose you have damaged your friend's computer when you lived in his house a few days ago. Write him a letter to 1) make an apology, and 2) suggest a solution. You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write the address. (10 points)

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

【C18】

Psychologists have known for a century that individuals vary in their cognitive ability. But are some groups, like some people, reliably smarter than others? In order to answer that question, we grouped 697 volunteer participants into teams of two to five members. Each team worked together to complete a series of short tasks, which were selected to represent the varied kinds of problems that groups are called upon to solve in the real world. One task involved logical analysis, another brainstorming; others emphasized coordination, planning and moral reasoning. Individual intelligence, as psychologists measure it, is defined by its generality: People with good vocabularies, for instance, also tend to have good math skills, even though we often think of those abilities as distinct. The results of our studies showed that this same kind of general intelligence also exists for teams. On average, the groups that did well on one task did well on the others, too. In other words, some teams were simply smarter than others. We found the smartest teams were distinguished by three characteristics. First, their members contributed more equally to the team's discussions, rather than letting one or two people dominate the group. Second, their members scored higher on a test called Reading the Mind in the Eyes, which measures how well people can read complex emotional states from images of faces with only the eyes visible. Finally, teams with more women outperformed teams with more men. This last effect, however, was partly explained by the fact that women, on average, were better at "mindreading" than men. In a new study, we replicated these earlier findings. We randomly assigned each of 68 teams to complete our collective intelligence test in one of two conditions. Half of the teams worked face to face. The other half worked online, with no ability to see any of their teammates. We wanted to see whether groups that worked online would still demonstrate collective intelligence, and whether social ability would matter as much when people communicated purely by typing messages into a browser. And they did. Online and off, some teams consistently worked smarter than others. More surprisingly, the most important ingredients for a smart team remained constant regardless of its mode of interaction: members who communicated a lot, participated equally and possessed good emotion-reading skills.

BPart B/B

The mythology of a culture Gan provide some vital insights into the beliefs and values of that culture. By using fantastic and sometimes incredible stories to create an oral tradition by which to explain the wonders of the natural world and teach lessons to younger generations, a society exposes those ideas and concepts held most important. Just as important as the final lesson to be gathered from the stories, however; are the characters and the roles they play in conveying that message. Perhaps the epitome of mythology and its use as a tool to pass on cultural values can be found in Aesop's Fables, told and retold during the era of the Greek Empire. Aesop, a slave who won the favor of the court through his imaginative and descriptive tales, almost exclusively used animals to fill the roles in his short stories. Humans, when at all present, almost always played thepart of bumbling fools struggling to learn the lesson being presented. This choice of characterization allows us to see that the Greeks placed wisdom on a level slightly beyond humans, implying that deep wisdom and understanding is a universal quality sought by, rather than steanning from, human beings. Aesop's fables illustrated the central themes of humility and self-reliance, reflecting the importance of those traits in early Greek society. The folly of humans was used to contrast against the ultimate goal of attaining a higher level of understanding and awareness of truths about nature and humanity. For example, one notable fable features a fox repeatedly trying to reach a bunch of grapes on a very high vine. After failing at several attempts, the fox gives up, making up its mind that the grapes were probably sour anyway. The fable' s lesson, that we often play down that which we can' t achieve so as to make ourselves feel better, teaches the reader or listener in an entertaining way about one of the weaknesses of the human psyche. The mythology of other cultures and societies reveal the underlying traits of their respective cultures just as Aesop's fables did. The stories of Roman gods, Aztec ghosts and European elves all served to train ancient generations those lessons considered most important to their community, and today they offer a powerful looking glass by which to evaluate and consider the contextual environment in which those culture existed.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

Writeanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Youshoulddescribethechartandgiveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150wordsontheANSWERSHEET.(15points)

"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.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

The lives of the Ancient Greeks revolved around eris, a concept by which they defined the universe. They believed that the world existed in a condition of opposites. If there was good, then there was evil, if there was love, then there was hatred; joy, then sorrow; war then peace; and so on. The Greeks believed that good eris occured when one held a balanced outlook on life and coped with problems as they arose. It was a kind of ease of living that came from trying to bring together the great opposing forces in nature. Bad eris was evident in the violent conditions that ruled men's lives. Although these things were found in nature and sometimes could not be controlled, it was believed that bad eris occurred when one ignored a problem, letting it grow larger until it destroyed not only that person, but his family as well. The Ancient Greeks saw eris as a goddess: Eris, the Goddess of Discord, better known as Trouble. One myth that expresses this concept of bad eris deals with the marriage of King Peleus and the river goddess Thetis. Zeus, the supreme ruler, learns that Thetis would bear a child strong enough to destroy its father. Not wanting to father his own ruin, Zeus convinces Thetis to marry a human, a mortal whose child could never challenge the gods. He promises her, among other things, the greatest wedding in all of Heaven and Earth and allows the couple to invite whomever they please. This is one of the first mixed marriages of Greek Mythology and the lesson learned from it still applies today. They do invite everyone. . . except Eris, the Goddess of Discord. In other words, instead of facing the problems brought on by a mixed marriage, they turn their backs on them. They refused to deal directly with their problems and the result is tragic. In her fury, Eris arrives, ruins the wedding, causes a jealous feud between the three major goddesses over a golden apple, and sets in place the conditions that lead to the Trojan War. The war would take place 20 years in the future, but it would result in the death of the only child of the bride and groom, Achilles. Eris would destroy the parents' hopes for their future, leaving the couple with no legitimate heirs to the throne. Hence, when we are told," If you don't invite trouble, trouble comes," it means that if we don't deal with our problems, our problems will deal with us. . . with a vengeance! It is easy to see why the Greeks considered many of their myths learning myths, for this one teaches us the best way to defeat that which can destroy us.

Driving through snowstorm on icy roads for long distances is a most nerve-racking experience. It is a paradox that the snow, coming【C1】______ gently, blowing gleefully in a high wind, all the while【C2】______ down a treacherous carpet, freezes the windows,【C3】______ the view. The might of automated man is【C4】______ .The horses, the powerful electrical systems, the deep-tread tires, all go【C5】______ nothing. One minute the road feels【C6】______ , and the next the driver is sliding over it, light as a【C7】______ , in a panic, wondering what the heavy trailer trucks coming up【C8】______ the rear are going to do. The trucks are like【C9】______ when you have to pass them, not at sixty or seventy【C10】______ you do when the road is dry, but at twenty-five and thirty.【C11】______ their engines sound unnaturally loud. Snow, slush and 【C12】______ of ice spray from beneath the wheels, obscure the windshield, and rattle【C13】______ your car. Beneath the wheels there is plenty of【C14】______for you to slide and get mashed to a pulp. Inch【C15】______ inch you move up, past the rear wheels, the center wheels, the cab, the front wheels, all【C16】______ too slowly by. Straight ahead you continue,【C17】______ to cut over sharply would send you into a slip,【C18】______ in front of the vehicle. At last, there is【C19】______ enough, and you creep back over, in front of the truck now, but【C20】______ the sound of its engine still thundering in your ears.

Imagine waking up and finding the value of your assets has been halved. No, you're not an investor in one of those hedge funds(对冲基金) that failed completely. With the dollar slumping to a 26-year low against the pound, already-expensive London has become quite unaffordable. A coffee at Starbucks, just as unavoidable in England as it is in the United States, runs about $ 8. The once all-powerful dollar isn't doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar. The weak dollar is a source of humiliation(屈辱), for a nation's self-esteem rests in part on the strength of its currency. It's also a potential economic problem, since a declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U. S. economy — from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami — for which the weak dollar is most excellent news. Many Europeans may view the U. S. as an arrogant superpower that has become hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U. S. than a weak dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6. 8 percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will finally top the 2000 peak. Many Europeans now apparently view the U. S. the way many Americans view Mexico — as a cheap place to vacation, shop and party, all while ignoring the fact that the poorer locals can't afford to join the merrymaking. The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports, which, thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and May 2007. For first five months of 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from 2006. If you own shares in large American corporations, you're a winner in the weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Cola's stock bubbled to a five-year high after it reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Coke's beverage (饮料) business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include McDonald's and IBM. American tourists, however, shouldn't expect any relief soon. The dollar lost strength the way many marriages break up — slowly, and then all at once. And currencies don't turn on a dime. So if you want to avoid the pain inflicted by the increasingly pathetic dollar, cancel that summer vacation to England and look to New England. There, the dollar is still treated with a little respect.

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. 最近许多大学校园向游客开放。有的人认为向游客开放大学校园是不必要的，甚至是有害的；但是另一些人认为这样做是有好处的。你的看法如何?

How do you explain economics in plain English? The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been answering the question with an even more【C1】______tool: comic books. And it's been doing that for【C2】______. The New York Fed has published comics about money and finance for【C3】______readers more interested in【C4】______since 1950s, according to Edward Steinberg, a former Fed employee who【C5】______several of the comic books【C6】______online today. In the latest ten years, Steinberg supervised a small team of writers and editors that produced the Fed's print publications and educational【C7】______years, such as the comic books. Distributed free of charge to teachers, the comics were mostly【C8】______high school students, whom Steinberg felt weren't learning enough about the economy and personal finance,【C9】______some of the more advanced titles, such as The Story of Monetary Policy, have been taught in several college classrooms. It's no【C10】______that the comic books offer highly simplified opinions on the country's complex financial systems, but they go out of their way to【C11】______dumbing down the content. Most of the booklets are more than 20 pages, and they're packed with【C12】______and details that could【C13】______a teenager on a first read: The Story of the Federal Reserve System from 1999 starts off slow by comparing and contrasting the Fed with local neighborhood banks, but it soon【C14】______into specific information about monetary policy, open market operations, government securities, and reserve requirements. With guest【C15】______from Uncle Sam and a walking, talking bank, A Penny Saved offers a crash course in saving before touching【C16】______the advantages and disadvantages of【C17】______in the stock market, real estate, and fine art. But the【C18】______part of the series might be the fact that Steinberg doesn't even like comics. "【C19】______the work that I did at the Fed, I don't have an interest in comic books," Steinberg says over email. "It was appropriate,【C20】______, that I had a job writing comic books, because everybody can try to earn his living through humor."

When George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is spotted outside Westminster, he is very often making an appearance on a building site, wearing a fluorescent safety jacket. It was no surprise to hear him claim once again, in his budget speech on March 19th, that "We're getting Britain building". Sadly, given the huge extent of Britain's housing shortage, the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much. The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy, a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes. Mr Osborne also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet, a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary, and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London. By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock, Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly, especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased. Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020, the Treasury claims, though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash. Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending to small house builders—who have struggled to get financing in recent years— which ought to have a similar effect. The new town is more adventurous. Ebbsfleet, where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007, has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years. Few have been built, mostly because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops, public transport or infrastructure. The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site. That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built. A similar interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates. Many of these, such as the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets, are crumbling. By increasing the density on the sites, and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built, it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstruction. But councils have been short of money to do much themselves, and private developers extract high returns in exchange for putting up capital. With central-government money, those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.

BPart BDirections: Write an essay of 160-200 words based 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.

For more than two decades, U. S. courts have been limiting affirmative-action programs in universities and other areas. The legal rationale is that racial preferences are unconstitutional, even those intended to compensate for racism or intolerance. For many colleges, this means students can be admitted only on merit, not on their race or ethnicity. It has been a divisive issue across the U. S., as educators blame the prolonged reaction to affirmative-action for declines in minority admissions. Meanwhile, activists continue to battle race preferences in courts from Michigan to North Carolina. Now, chief executives of about two dozen companies have decided to plunge headfirst into this politically unsettled debate. They, together with 36 universities and 7 non-profitable organizations, formed a forum that set forth an action plan essentially designed to help colleges circumvent court-imposed restrictions on affirmative action. The CEOs' motive: "Our audience is growing more diverse, so the communities we serve benefit if our employees are racially and ethnically diverse as well" , says one CEO of a company that owns nine television stations.Among the steps the forum is pushing: finding creative yet legal ways to boost minority enrollment through new admissions policies; promoting admissions decisions that look at more than test scores; and encouraging universities to step up their minority outreach and financial aid. And to counter accusations by critics to challenge these tactics in court, the group says it will give legal assistance to colleges sued for trying them. " Diversity diminished by the court must be made up for in other legitimate, legal ways, " says, a forum member. One of the more controversial methods advocated is the so-called 10% rule. The idea is for public universities—which educate three-quarters of all U. S. undergraduates—to admit students who are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. Doing so allows colleges to take minorities who excel in average urban schools, even if they wouldn't have made the cut under the current statewide ranking many universities use.