BSection III Writing/B

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

Directions:Writeanessaybasedonthechart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150words.

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

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

Last September, the U.S. government announced that its birthrate fell to "another record low". Morally speaking, there's nothing wrong with this. It's【C1】______. in a way. All over the world, birthrates tend to fall a-long with economic development. The thing about an increasingly childless economy is that it has major implications for【C2】______. It is confirmed by a new data from a Gallup survey【C3】______on the average daily spending of families. Even after you control for income, age, education, and【C4】______status, families with young kids spend more every day. What are parents spending on? Not just books, toys, and games. The Department of Agriculture【C5】______surveys the many ways we spend on our kids, to the tune of about $14,000 a year. The【C6】______majority of money goes to the【C7】______: housing, food, transportation, and education. Housing is kind of funny, because young children tend not to have their housing units,【C8】______the parents are extremely well-off and the children are terribly misbehaved. The survey estimates the housing portion of spending by trying to【C9】______a few factors: the cost of an extra bedroom, the cost of moving into safer【C10】______with better schools, and the cost of buying homes with larger yards. It is【C11】______that on economic growth, some of the most discussed variables on editorial pages and cable news are policy choices like tax rates or international events. But buried【C12】______these headlines is the glacier of demographics, the steady and unyielding force of human numbers to【C13】______the economy. The【C14】______in U.S. birthrates in recent years has almost certainly had a negative effect on consumer spending (and,【C15】______, lower birthrates are probably an outcome of the recession). In particular, childless couples don't need space for more kids so they're less【C16】______to buy homes in the suburbs,【C17】______demand for housing that badly needs to sell more homes. In other words,【C18】______families and less household formation【C19】______the U.S. economy of housing and transportation spending, which has historically accounted for half of family【C20】______.

It is easier to negotiate initial salary requirement because once you are inside, the organizational constraints influence wage increases. One thing, however, is certain: your chances of getting the raise you feel you deserve are less if you don't at least ask for it. Men tend to ask for more, and they get more, and this holds true with other resources, not just pay increases. Consider Beth's story: I did not get what I wanted when I did not ask for it. We had cubicle (小隔间) offices and window offices. I sat in the cubicles with several male colleagues. One by one they were moved into window offices, while I remained in the cubicles. Several males who were hired after me also went to offices. One in particular told me he was next in line for an office and that it had been part of his negotiations for the job. I guess they thought me content to stay in the cubicles since I did not voice my opinion either way. It would be nice if we all received automatic pay increases equal to our merit, but "nice" isn't a quality attributed to most organizations. If you feel you deserve a significant raise in pay, you'll probably have to ask for it. Performance is your best bargaining chip when you are seeking a raise. You must be able to demonstrate that you deserve a raise. Timing is also a good bargaining chip. If you can give your boss something he or she needs (a new client or a sizable contract, for example) just before merit pay decisions are being made, you are more likely to get the raise you want. Use information as a bargaining chip too. Find out what you are worth on the open market. What will someone else pay for your services? Go into the negotiations prepared to place your chips on the table at the appropriate time and prepared to use communication style to guide the direction of the interaction.

Sunlight is free, but that is no reason to waste it. Yet even the best silicon solar cells—by far the most【C1】______sort—convert only a quarter of the light that falls on them. Silicon has the【C2】______of being cheap: manufacturing improvements have brought its price to a point where it is snapping at the heels of fossil fuels.【C3】______many scientists would like to replace it【C4】______something fundamentally better. John Rogers, of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is one. The cells he has【C5】______can convert 42.5% of sunlight.【C6】______improved, Dr Rogers reckons, their efficiency could rise to 50%. Their【C7】______is that they are actually not one cell, but four, stacked one on top of another. Solar cells are made of semiconductors, and every type of semiconductor has a【C8】______called a band gap that is different from that of other semiconductors. The band gap【C9】______the longest wavelength of light a semiconductor can absorb (it is transparent to longer wavelengths). It also fixes the【C10】______amount of energy that can be【C11】______from shorter wavelength. The result is that long-wavelength photons are lost and short-wave ones incompletely utilised. Dr Rogers【C12】______this by using a different material for each layer of the stack. He chooses his materials【C13】______the bottom of the band gap of the top layer matches the top of the band gap of the one underneath, and so on【C14】______the stack. Each layer thus【C15】______off part of the spectrum, converts it efficiently into electrical energy and passes the rest on. The problem is that the materials needed to make these semiconductors are【C16】______But Dr Rogers has found a way to overcome this.【C17】______solar-cell modules are completely covered by semiconductor, but in his only 0.1% of the surface is so covered. The semiconducting stacks, each half a millimeter square, are【C18】______over that surface many dots. Each stack then has a pair of cheap glass lenses【C19】______over it. These focus the sun"s light onto the stack, meaning that all【C20】______light meets a semiconductor.

When school officials and unions work together, students have a real chance to come out on top. That was clear this week【C1】______the State Education Department and New York"s teachers" unions【C2】______agreement on a rigorous teacher evaluation system. The Legislature should quickly approve the【C3】______. It would improve New York"s schools and the state"s chances in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition for hundreds of millions of dollars in e-ducation【C4】______. The proposal, which resembles one developed through a(n)【C5】______partnership in New Haven, does away with the poor evaluation system【C6】______which teachers are observed briefly in the classroom and【C7】______the most ineffective ones regularly receive glowing ratings. The new system would require more【C8】______monitoring and would finally take student【C9】______into account. Teachers would eventually be【C10】______on a 100-point scale, with 25 points based on how much students improve on the【C11】______state exams and 15 percent based on locally selected measures. The【C12】______part of the e-valuation would be locally determined, consistent with state regulations, and could include such things as evaluations by a school principal, peer observations, a teacher"s ability to【C13】______lesson plans and so on. Teachers would be【C14】______as highly effective, effective, developing or ineffective. Those who need help would be given【C15】______. Those rated ineffective for two【C16】______years could be fired through a hearing process that would take no longer than 60 days. Right now that process can【C17】______for more than a year. The State Education Department deserves particular praise,【C18】______do the two union presidents, Richard Iannuzzi of New York State United Teachers and Michael Mulgrew of the United Federation of Teachers, the city"s union. They worked on this deal even though their members are angry about coming【C19】______Legislature should move swiftly on the bill【C20】______the state can meet the next Race to the Top application deadline. It is due on June 1.

Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for paid leave from work to care for a newborn child. Last spring one of the two, Australia, gave up the dubious distinction by establishing paid family leave starting in 2014. I wasn't surprised when this didn't make the news here in the United States—we're now the only wealthy country without such a policy. The United States does have one explicit family policy, the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993. It entitles workers to as much as 12 weeks' unpaid leave for care of a newborn or dealing with a family medical problem. Despite the modesty of the benefit, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups fought it bitterly, describing it as "government-run personnel management" and a "dangerous precedent". In fact, every step of the way, as (usually) Democratic leaders have tried to introduce work-family balance measures into the law, business groups have been strongly opposed. As Yale law professor Anne Alstott argues, justifying parental support depends on defining the family as a social good that, in some sense, society must pay for. In her book No Exit; What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents, she argues that parents are burdened in many ways in their lives; there is "no exit" when it comes to children. "Society expects—and needs—parents to provide their children with continuity of care, meaning the intensive, intimate care that human beings need to develop their intellectual, emotional and moral capabilities. And society expects—and needs— parents to persist in their roles for 18 years, or longer if needed. While most parents do this out of love, there are public penalties for not providing care. What parents do, in other words, is of deep concern to the state, for the obvious reason that caring for children is not only morally urgent but essential for the future of society. The state recognizes this in the large body of family laws that govern children's welfare, yet parents receive little help in meeting the life-changing obligations society imposes. To classify parenting as a personal choice for which there is no collective responsibility is not merely to ignore the social benefits of good parenting; really, it is to steal those benefits because they accrue(不断积累的) to the whole of society as today's children become tomorrow's productive citizenry(公民). In fact, by some estimates, the value of parental investments in children, investments of time and money (including lost wages), is equal to 20-30% of gross domestic product. If these investments generate huge social benefits—as they clearly do—the benefits of providing more social support for the family should be that much clearer.

BSection III Writing/B

Directions:Writeanessaybasedonthedrawing.Inyourwriting,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150words.

We often donate money to the needy in many ways. But sometimes people are worried about where the money actually goes. What do you think? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on donating. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.

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

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

You have lost your cellphone charger at the hotel where you stayed during your vacation. Write a letter to the hotel about your item left behind. You should write about 100 words neatly on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not sign your own name. Use " Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address.

Artificial intelligence was a catchword at the Summer Davos forum in Dalian, Liaoning province, which concluded on Thursday. While participants from the academia, governments and the corporate sector had in-depth discussions on the future of AI technology at the three-day event, consultancy companies released reports highlighting the economic benefits of AI for China and the world at large. However, history tells us that, while technological advancements have brought us benefits, they have also led to great social upheavals, by, for example, changing the production and labor structures, and forcing many workers to either adapt to the changes or lose their jobs. In the 18th century, for instance , skilled workers rose up in revolt to resist the Industrial Revolution, with their protests culminating in movement that saw textile workers destroying machinery. We may not see similar protests today, but history should serve as a warning against the indiscriminate development and application of AI technology. While we may gain a lot of benefits from AI, we must work out plans to offset its negative impact on society, especially for workers.

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

Seven years ago, when I was visiting Germany, I met with an official who explained to me that the country had a perfect solution to its economic problems. Watching the U. S. economy【C1】______ during the 90s, the Germans had decided that they, too, needed to go the high-technology【C2】______ . But how? In the late 90s, the answer seemed obvious: Indians.【C3】______ all, Indian entrepreneurs accounted for one of every three Silicon Valley start-ups. So the German government decided that it would【C4】______ Indians to Germany just as America does: by【C5】______ green cards. Officials created something called the German Green Card and【C6】______ that they would issue 20 000 in the first year.【C7】______ , the Germans expected that tens of thousands more Indians would soon be begging to come, and perhaps the【C8】______ would have to be increased. But the program was a failure. A year later【C9】______ half of the 20 000 cards had been issued. After a few extensions, the program was【C10】______. I told the German official at the time that I was sure the【C11】______ would fail. It's not that I had any particular expertise in immigration policy,【C12】______ I understood something about green cards, because I had one (the American【C13】______). The German Green Card was misnamed, I argued,【C14】______ it never, under any circumstances, translated into German citizenship. The U. S. green card, by contrast, is an almost【C15】______ path to becoming American (after five years and a clean record). The official【C16】______ my objection, saying that there was no way Germany was going to offer these people citizenship. "We need young tech workers," he said. "That's what this program is all【C17】______. So Germany was asking bright young【C18】______ to leave their country, culture and families, move thousands of miles away, learn a new language and work in a strange land—but without any【C19】______ of ever being part of their new home. Germany was sending a signal, one that was【C20】______ received in India and other countries, and also by Germany's own immigrant community.

Your camera is snatched. Will you ever see it a-gain? Probably not. But it may send postcards from its new owner. The【C1】______of recovery of lost or stolen cameras have improved【C2】______newer devices combined with online photo-sharing services create a digital track one can【C3】______with the right tools. Dozens of cameras from major manufacturers【C4】______the serial number found on a camera's body into its software as well. The serial number is then included in the metadata with which every picture taken by the camera is tagged. When a photo is uploaded at sites like Flickr, they can, therefore, be【C5】______and indexed. Mr. Westin's company, which makes the Gadget-Trak theft-recovery applications, has begun to create a searchable image database for lost cameras. When the owners upload the tagged photos they provide the【C6】______link. Once the database is established, the company will compare it with that of a list of missing serial numbers【C7】______by police. Of course, even if a camera's serial number crops up,【C8】______the device's current location need not be【C9】______. However, there is also good news: posted pictures may give clues【C10】______its current location. Even more helpfully, more and more cameras now come 【C11】______a GPS receiver for inserting geographical coordinates into a picture's metadata. Flickr won't show the uploading account holder such information【C12】______a user explicitly permits it. Photos posted in other ways, 【C13】______, may leak this information more casually. With enough such【C14】______, police could ask a photo service or obtain a(n)【C15】______to retrieve location data stored in the user's account. Mr. Westin says that photographers can examine an image taken by their camera【C16】______losing it and extract the serial number. He wants to release a tool to make this【C17】______. All this is, of course, a double-edged【C18】______. Any information that helps find stolen 【C19】______may also be used to track camera owners' activities. Tools to【C20】______such data before photos are uploaded to the internet are available. And thieves know it.