Directions:Inthissection,youareaskedtowriteanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechartand2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteatleast150words.WriteyouressayonANSWERSHEET2.InvestmentinBeijingfromDifferentCountriesandRegionsHongKong—44%Japan—19.2%U.S.A.—16%Other23countries—21.8%
Directions:Writeanessaybasedonthechart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150words.
BSection II Reading Comprehension/B
BPart BDirections: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following information./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
" We will safeguard Britain"s credit rating with a credible plan to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit over a parliament," read the 2010 Conservative manifesto. Well, so much for that. The decision by Moody"s, one of the three big rating agencies, to downgrade Britain from Aaa to Aal on February 22nd was a colossal embarrassment. Moody"s now ranks Britain"s credit lower than that of Luxembourg or the Isle of Man. Will the downgrade harm the economy? In the past countries with lower credit ratings have had to pay higher borrowing costs. But neither America, which was downgraded in 2011 , or France, which suffered a similar fate last year, has suffered much. It is hard to spot an immediate impact in Britain, either. Investors had expected the ratings agencies to act after last year"s autumn statement revealed that the government was struggling to reduce its deficit on schedule. The two other big ratings agencies—Fitch and Standard figures released on February 27th showed that GDP had shrunk by 0. 3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 and is still 3% smaller than it was in the first quarter of 2008. Growth forecasts for the next few years were lowered in the autumn statement.
Directions:Writeanessaybasedonthechart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)describethediagram,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150words.
Running for the office of the President of the United States is exceptionally arduous and should not be undertaken by the【C1】______hearted. The candidates must first compete in the local primary elections. During the primary campaign, the candidate endeavors to【C2】______the votes of his or her constituents. Any new candidates are the opponents【C3】______the incumbent, the President currently in office who is running for re-election. The candidates refrain from actions that might create animosity【C4】______them and the public. Rather, they attempt to appease their constituency by using promotional gimmicks and ambiguous equivocation, as well as【C5】______decorous protocol. The public is indeed curious about, if not【C6】______of, the candidate's professional life, in addition to his or her personal life, which will be under【C7】______scrutiny during the campaign. Since his or her private life becomes public domain, the candidate may【C8】______to disclose any controversial behavior in his or her past before the press digs it up. 【C9】______history has shown us, even a prominent politician can be revealed as a phony. A politician exhibiting scandalous behavior might even be subjected【C10】______censure from his political colleagues. The voters must also【C11】______the political platform of the candidate. The platform includes the core issues【C12】______the candidate promises to resolve during his or her term in office. Typical campaign promises include establishing【C13】______to reduce bureaucratic red tape. The candidate【C14】______the primary election will be nominated by his or her particular political party to run【C15】______the final election. After toppling the competition, the endorsed candidate is expected to【C16】______a nomination address at the National Convention. The audience is usually rapt and responds【C17】______a standing ovation. The final election【C18】______takes place. The winner will be【C19】______in as the President of the United States during the formal inauguration ceremony. This occurs in ornate surroundings, replete【C20】______red carpets and the official U. S. seal.
Some futurologists have assumed that the vast upsurge of women in the workforce may portend a rejection of marriage. Many women, according to this hypothesis, would rather work than marry. The converse of this concern is that the prospects of becoming a multi-paycheck household could encourage marriages. In the past, only the earnings and financial prospects of the man counted in the marriage decision. Now, however, the earning ability of a woman can make her more attractive as a marriage partner. Data show that economic downturns tend to postpone marriage because the parties cannot afford to establish a family or are concerned about rainy days ahead. As the economy rebounds, the number of marriages also rises. Coincident with the increase in women working outside the home is the increase in divorce rates. Yet, it may be wrong to jump to any simple cause-and-effect conclusions. The impact of a wife's work on divorce is no less cloudy than its impact on marriage decisions. The realization that she can be a good provider may increase the chances that a working wife will choose divorce over an unsatisfactory marriage. But the reverse is equally plausible. Tensions grounded in financial problems often play a key role in ending a marriage. Given high unemployment, inflationary problems, and slow growth in real earnings, a working wife can increase household income and relieve some of these pressing financial burdens. By raising a family's standard of living, a working wife may strengthen her family's financial and emotional stability. Psychological factors also should be considered. For example, a wife blocked from a career outside the home may feel caged in the house. She may view her only choice as seeking a divorce. On the other hand, if she can find fulfillment through work outside the home, work and marriage can go together to create a stronger and more stable union. Also, a major part of women's inequality in marriage has been due to the fact that, in most cases, men have remained the main breadwinners. With higher earning capacity and status occupations outside of the home comes the Capacity to exercise power within the family. A working wife may rob a husband of being the master of the house. Depending upon how the couple reacts to these new conditions, it could create a stronger equal partnership or it could create new insecurities.
Most people may drink only two liters of water a day, but they consume about 3 000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far more, since they tend to eat more meat, which takes far more water to produce than grains. So as the world's population grows and incomes rise, farmers will need a great deal more water to keep everyone fed; 2 000 more cubic kilometers a year by 2030, according to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Yet in many farming regions, water is scarce and likely to get scarcer as global warming worsens. The world is facing not so much a food crisis as a water crisis, argues Colin Chartres, IWMI's director-general. The solution, Mr. Chartres and others contend, is more efficient use of water or, as the sloganeers put it, "more crop per drop". Some 1.2 billion people live in places that are short of water. Farming accounts for roughly 70% of human water consumption. So when water starts to run out, farming tends to offer the best potential for thrift. But governments rarely charge farmers a market price for water. So they are usually more wasteful than other consumers—even though the value they create from the water is often less than households or industry would be willing to pay for it. The pressing need is to make water go further. Antoine Frerot, the head of the water division of Veolia Environment, promotes recycling of city wastewater to be used in industry or agriculture. This costs less and cuts pollution. Yet as Mr. Frerot himself concedes, there are many even cheaper ways to save water. As much as 70% of water used by farmers never gets to crops, perhaps lost through leaky irrigation channels or by draining into rivers or groundwater. Investment in drip irrigation, or simply repairing the worst leaks, could bring huge savings. Fanners in poor countries can usually afford such things only if they are growing cash crops, says David Molden of IWMI. Even basic kit such as small rainwater tanks can be lacking. Ethiopia, for example, has only 38 cubic meters of storage capacity per inhabitant, compared to almost 5 000 in Australia. Yet modest water storage can hugely improve yields in rain-fed agriculture, by smoothing over short dry spells. Likewise, pumping water into natural aquifers for seasonal storage tends to be much cheaper than building a big dam, and prevents the great waste of water through evaporation. Agronomists are beginning to devise tools to help monitor the efficiency of water use. Some have designed algorithms that use satellite data on surface temperatures to calculate the rate at which plants are absorbing and transpiring water. That allows governments and development agencies to concentrate their efforts on the most prodigal areas. Raising yields does not always involve greater water consumption, especially when farms are inefficient. It would take little extra water to double cereal output in many parts of Africa, Mr. Molden argues. IWMI reckons that some three-quarters of the extra food the world needs could be provided simply by bringing yields in poor countries closer to those of rich ones. That is more realistic than the absolute alternative; giving up meat and other thirsty products altogether.[A] cultivating cash crops[B] leaking irrigation system[C] expenses and efficiency[D]surface temperature data [E] low water price[F] water shortage[G] food crisis
Suppose your cousin Ann will finish the high school course this month. She is undecided whether to take a college course or to accept a job. Write her an email to 1) give her your advice, and 2) encourage her. You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address.
It's midday, and your phone's battery is dangerously close to the 20 per cent mark. If you're like the majority of people, that red icon will leave you feeling panicked, annoyed and hunting for a spare charger. LG has dubbed this condition "Low Battery Anxiety" and says that nearly 9 out of 10 people suffer from the fear of losing power on their phone. The company polled a random sample of more than 2,000 adult smartphone users in the US earlier this year. When it comes to choosing between hitting the gym or charging their smartphone, it found one in three people are likely to skip the gym. But millennials tend to have it worse— with 42 per cent likely to skip the gym when choosing between working out or charging their phone. Smartphone users will even "drop everything" and make a U-turn to head back home to charge their phone.
Directions: There are many fake commodities nowadays. They range from daily commodities to expensive goods. What is your opinion about these commodities? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on fake commodities. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.
Directions:Writeanessaybasedonthechart.Inyourwriting,youshould1)describethediagram,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteabout150words.
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