Poets, songwriters and politicians hate the idea, but for decades opinion-poll evidence has been clear; money buys happiness and the richer you are, the more likely you are to express satisfaction with your life. Until now, a survey of 43 countries【C1】______on October 30th by the Pew Research Centre of Washington, DC, shows that people in【C2】______markets are expressing almost the same level of satisfaction as people in rich countries. It is the biggest【C3】______to the standard view of happiness and income seen【C4】______. The Pew poll asks respondents to【C5】______, on a scale from zero to ten, how good their lives are. (Those who say between seven and ten are counted as【C6】______) In 2007, 57% of respondents in rich countries put themselves in the top four tiers; in emerging markets the【C7】______was 33%; in poor countries only 16%—a classic【C8】______of the standard view. But in 2014, 54% of rich-country respondents counted themselves as happy, whereas in emerging markets the percentage【C9】______to 51%. This was happening just at a time when emerging markets' chances of converging economically【C10】______the West seemed to be【C11】______. Rich countries did not experience【C12】______declines in happiness. The decreases in America and Britain were tiny (a single percentage point) ,【C13】______the share of happy Germans rose 13 points. A large drop in formerly joyful Spain ensured a modest overall decline for the rich.【C14】______the convergence happened【C15】______huge improvements in countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan. In 12 of the 24 emerging markets, half or more people【C16】______their life satisfaction in the top tiers of the ladder. This is not to【C17】______the link between income and satisfaction has been snapped. Poor countries still【C18】______; only a quarter of the people there are in the happy tiers—half the level of the other two groups. There is【C19】______a clear link between happiness and income growth. China's GDP rose at an annual average rate of 10% in 2007-2014 and its happiness level rose 26 points.【C20】______countries, richer people express more satisfaction than their poorer neighbours.

Today, widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year. After all, if everyone you know is going to college in the fall, it seems silly to stay back a year, doesn' t it? And after going to school for 12 years, it doesn' t feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn' t academic. But while this may be true, it' s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years. There' s always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated " race to the finish line," whether that be toward graduate school, medical school or lucrative career. But despite common misconceptions, a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits—in fact, it probably enhances it. Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not. Rather than pulling students back, a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence, new responsibilities and environmental changes—all things that first-year students often struggle with the most. Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environment, making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than acclimation blunders. If you' re not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to explore interests, then consider its financial impact on future academic choices. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once. This isn' t surprising, considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications, but switching to another after taking college classes. It' s not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the school, it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game. At Boston College, for example, you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department. Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.

BSection III Writing/B

It amazes me when people proclaim that they are bored. Actually, it amazes me that I am ever bored, or that any of us are. With so much to occupy us these days, boredom should be a relic of a bygone age—an age devoid of the internet, social media, multi-channel TV, 24-hour shopping, multiplex cinemas, game consoles, texting and whatever other myriad possibilities are available these days to entertain us. Yet despite the plethora of high-iniensity entertainment constantly at our disposal, we are still bored. Up to half of us are "often bored" at home or at school, while more than two-thirds of us are chronically bored at work. We are bored by paperwork, by the commute and by dull meetings. TV is boring, as is Facebook and other social media. There are a number of explanations for our ennui. This, in fact, is part of the problem—we are overstimulated. The more entertained we are the more entertainment we need in order to feel satisfied. The more we fill our world with fast-moving, high-intensity, ever-changing stimulation, the more we get used to that and the less tolerant we become of lower levels. Our attention spans are now thought to be less than that of a goldfish ( eight seconds). We are hard-wired to seek novelty, which produces a hit of dopamine, that feel-good chemical, in our brains. As soon as a new stimulus is noticed, however, it is no longer new, and after a while it bores us. To get that same pleasurable dopamine hit we seek fresh sources of distraction. Our increasing reliance on screentime is also to blame. We seem to live in a varied and exciting world with a wealth of entertainment at our fingertips, and many of these amusements are obtained in remarkably similar ways—via our fingers. On average we spend six to seven hours in front of our phone, tablet, computer and TV screens every day. The irony is that while our mobile devices should allow us to fill every moment, our means of obtaining that entertainment has become so repetitive and routine that it's a source of boredom in itself. Research suggests that chronic boredom is responsible for a profusion of negative outcomes such as overeating, gambling, truancy, antisocial behaviour, drug use, accidents, risk taking and much more. We need less, not more, stimulation and novelty. It seems paradoxical, but feeling bored in the short term will make us less bored in the long term.

Using tools doesn't make humans, dolphins, and crows smart. Rather, it's the stress and challenge of living with others—recognizing friend from foe, calculating who to deceive and who to befriend—that led these and other social creatures to evolve their cognitive skills. That's the gist of the social intelligence hypothesis, an idea that's been around since 1966. But does having to remember whose lice need picking actually improve other mental abilities, like figuring out how to open a locked box with a hunk of meat inside? A new study of four carnivores—two social and two solitary species—suggests that it does. "They've taken an important issue and tested it in a simple but novel way," says Richard Byrne, an evolutionary psychologist at The University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study. "The results are clear; The cognitive benefit from being a social carnivore does transfer" to a mental ability that has nothing to do with being social , he says. Other researchers think the results aren't as clear-cut. " It is important and a valuable stepping stone in our quest to understand how intelligence evolved, but like all studies, it is one piece of a larger puzzle," says Sarah Benson-Amram, a zoologist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, whose recent comparative study of 39 species of carnivores reached the opposite conclusion. Scientists devised the social intelligence hypothesis to explain the evolution of the human brain. They've found that most social species (from chimpanzees to social wasps) have relatively large brains and are cognitively sophisticated, adept at experiments designed to test their smarts. But some researchers argue that another factor—a challenging environment—may also stimulate cognitive evolution. If so, then more solitary species could also be large-brained and smart thanks to the ecological difficulties they face. Other researchers concur, but with caveats. " They did find a nice link between sociality and success" on this task, says Evan MacLean, a comparative psychologist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. But he wonders what type of cognition the ability to open a puzzle box actually demonstrates. " It may be reflective of trial and error learning, insight, or just of curiosity or interest in novel objects. " The puzzle box is also not particularly " ecologically relevant," to the carnivores, notes primatolo-gist Frans de Waal at Emory University in Atlanta, who would like to see the animals tested on some type of predator-prey task. Still, it is " a good first step and a fresh approach to the intelligence of carnivores , a group we have neglected for too long. "

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

Suppose you have recently joined an international friendship club. But you are not satisfied with the service you have received. Write a letter to the director of the club to1) make a complaint, and2) ask for an explanation. You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not sign your name. Use Li Ming instead. Do not write the address. (10 points)

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

Some chief executives say they are unplugging as best they can, when they can. Baratunde Thurston, CEO of humor company Cultivated Wit, braved a 25-day Internet detox last year and now settles for what he calls "micro-disconnecting". For example, not checking Twitter at a meeting. And Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of online real estate center Zillow, turns off his company email for a 24-hour stretch every week. Internet sabbaticals is popular recently, but those at the helm of companies aren't usually able to completely cut the wire. Still, many CEOs say they want to find a balance, suspecting it might actually help their work. "I am constantly thinking about Zillow, even when I'm sleeping," Mr. Rascoff says. "Without technology, I can think about it more thoughtfully without interruptions." Leslie Perlow, a Harvard Business School professor, says time away from technology can make people more creative, innovative and productive. "Everybody is bombarded all the time these days," she says. "The more senior you are, the more you perceive, there' s nobody but me." Jim Moffatt, CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP, finds that occasionally turning out helps him cut through the "fog" and "clutter" of the day-to-day grind, making it easier to solve big problems. While "recharging" on a recent summer vacation he caught a movie with his 14 year-old son. As the credits rolled, he had an epiphany about who the elusive, missing employee should be for a team he was putting together. During fireworks this past Fourth of July, he mapped out global strategy in his head. Recent research from the University of Glasgow and UK-based Modeuro Consulting showed that executive email habits can be contagious; when the leadership team at a London-based power company decreased their email output, employees followed suit. Mr. Moffatt says one of the reasons he's so public about his unplugging is to show his employees that it is important to have a life outside of work. Plus, his occasional absences give colleagues the chance to exercise more power. "It sends a pretty strong signal to your team: I don' t have to be there all the time," he says. Handing over the reins does occasionally come with growing pains. Mr. Thurston of Cultivated Wit eschewed everything from work email to Facebook to Instagram last December and found it to be a "humbling" experience.

There is a widespread belief that humanities Ph. D. s have limited job prospects. The story goes that since tenure-track professorships are increasingly being replaced by contingent faculty, the vast majority of English and history Ph. D. s now roam the earth as poorly-paid adjuncts or, if they leave academia, as baristas and bookstore cashiers. As English professor William Pannapacker put it in Slate a few years back, "a humanities Ph. D. will place you at a disadvantage competing against 22-year-olds for entry-level jobs that barely require a high-school diploma. " His advice to would-be graduate students was simple: Recognize that a humanities Ph. D. is now a worthless degree and avoid getting one at all cost. It is true that the plate tectonics of academia has been shifting since the 1970s, reducing the number of good jobs available in the field. In the wake of these changes, there is no question that humanities doctorates have struggled with their employment prospects, but what is less widely known is between a fifth and a quarter of them go on to work in well-paying jobs in media, corporate America, non-profits, and government. Humanities Ph. D. s are all around us—and they are not serving coffee. The American Historical Association (AHA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) have staked out the position that the lack of reliable data about employment outcomes is hindering any productive discussion about the future of academia. Preliminary reports released in the past few months show that 24. 1 percent of history Ph. D. s and 21 percent of English and foreign language Ph. D. s over the last decade took jobs in business, museums, and publishing houses, among other industries. Humanities Ph. D. s typically secure non-academic jobs through their own networks, without the support of their departments. For those Ph. D. s who ultimately find work outside academia, the job-hunting process is often longer and harder than it needs to be. Few universities offer humanities doctoral candidates career counseling for non-academic jobs, which would help them market themselves and leverage alumni networks. As a solution to the shrinking academic job market, several top Ph. D. programs have opted to reduce the number of incoming doctoral candidates to limit their oversupply. However, some argue that this approach does not recognize that many humanities Ph. D. s will go on to positively impact other industries, as many already have. "Academic institutions hold a responsibility to advance knowledge," Victoria Blodgett, director of Graduate Career Services at Yale University, argues. "We should be in the business of putting Ph. D. s in government, non-profits, the media and lots of industries where we will be better off if we have people who are trained to think as deeply as they are. "

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

If you have ever wondered how an elephant smells, scientists have the answer. Researchers have discovered that African Elephants have the largest number of genes【C1】______smell of any mammal. Given the size of their trunks, and how important it is【C2】______their survival, it is probably unsurprising that an elephant's nose is not only the longest in the animal kingdom, but also the most effective. In【C3】______, humans and other primates have a poor sense of smell. "The functions of these genes are not well known,【C4】______they are likely important for the living environment of African elephants," said author Dr Yoshihito Niimura of the University of Tokyo. "【C5】______, an elephant's nose is not only long but also superior. " The sense of smell is【C6】______to all mammals, and they use it for【C7】______food, finding mates and locating their offspring. In a study published in Genome Research, scientists【C8】______the 13 mammal species and found that African Elephants have twice the number of smell genes【C9】______dogs and five times more than humans. They have around 2,000 genes alone that are associated with scent. Humans in comparison have just under 400 and some other primates even【C10】______. The study found that 20,000 genes are【C11】______for the sense of smell in mammals, of which around half are functional, but the collections【C12】______for each species. Horses have around 1,000 smell genes, rabbits around 750 and rats about 1,200. "The large repertoire of elephant (smell) genes might be attributed to elephants' heavy【C13】______on scent in various contexts, including social【C14】______and reproduction," added Dr Niimura. African and Asian elephants possess a【C15】______scent organ behind each eye, and male elephants can produce a special substance during annual mating, which is characterized【C16】______increased aggressiveness. And【C17】______studies have revealed that, African elephants can reportedly【C18】______between two Kenyan ethnic groups—the Maasai, whose young men【C19】______manhood by spearing elephants, and the Kamba, who are agricultural people that【C20】______little threat to elephants through smell.

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

Directions: There is a lot of imported merchandise available in our market Some people advocate that we should only buy things that are made in our own country. Do you agree? In this section, you are asked to write an essay on whether we should only buy things made in our own country. You can provide specific reasons and examples to support your idea. You should write at least 150 words.

In a sweeping change to how most of its 1,800 employees are paid, the Union Square Hospitality Group will eliminate tipping at Union Square Cafe and its 12 other restaurants by the end of next year, the company's chief executive, Danny Meyer, said on Wednesday. The move will affect New York City businesses. The first will be the Modern, inside the Museum of Modern Art, starting next month. The others will gradually follow. A small number of restaurants around the country have reduced or eliminated tipping in the last several years. Some put a surcharge on the bill, allowing the restaurants to set the pay for all their employees. Others, including Bruno Pizza, a new restaurant in the East Village, factor the cost of an hourly wage for servers into their menu prices. Union Square Hospitality Group will do the latter. The Modern will be the pilot restaurant, Mr. Meyer said, because its chef, Abram Bissell, has been agitating for higher pay to attract skilled cooks. The average hourly wage for kitchen employees at the restaurant is expected to rise to $15.25 from $11.75. Mr. Meyer said that restaurants such as his needed to stay competitive as the state moved to a $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers. If cooks' wages do not keep pace with the cost of living, he said, "it's not going to be sustainable to attract the culinary talent that the city needs to keep its edge." Mr. Meyer said he hoped to be able to raise pay for junior dining room managers and for cooks, dishwashers and other kitchen workers. The wage gap is one of several issues cited by restaurateurs who have deleted the tip line from checks. Some believe it is unfair for servers' pay to be affected by factors that have nothing to do with performance. A rash of class-action lawsuits over tipping irregularities, many of which have been settled for millions of dollars, is a mounting worry. Scott Rosenberg, an owner of Sushi Yasuda in Manhattan, said in an interview in 2013 that he had eliminated tipping so his restaurant could more closely follow the customs of Japan, where tipping is rare. He said he also hoped his customers would enjoy leaving the table without having to solve a math problem. While Drew Nieporent, who owns nine restaurants in New York City and one in London, said he doubted the average diner would accept an increase in prices. "Tipping is a way of life in this country," he said. "It may not be the perfect system, but it' s our system. It' s an American system."

Even before the opening ceremony, a record had been broken at Sochi: 12 new events, the most for any Olympics, were scheduled to make their debut . Since the first winter Olympics in 1924, the total has swelled from 16 to 98. Some of the latest batch, such as the women"s ski jump, are variations on existing events. Others will be less familiar to the mainly middle-aged audience. This is as the organisers intended. More than half of all Americans who watched the 2010 winter Olympics on NBC were over 50. Teenagers hardly tuned in. For the main sponsors, which included Coca-Cola and McDonald"s, as well as for broadcasters and advertisers, this was bad news. Teenagers, in particular, have a big influence on their families" spending habits. In 1948 the BBC offered 1,000 guineas($ 47 ,000 in today"s money)for the right to broadcast that year"s London summer games. The organisers, fearing this would be too much of a financial strain for the broadcaster, turned it down. That amateur spirit has long since gone the way of the tug-of-war event; global broadcasting rights have been the games" biggest revenue stream for the past 30 years. In London 2012 they hit $2.6 billion. When planning the Olympics, says Ian Henry of Loughborough University, organisers only recently started to think about how well a sport plays on television and with young people. They added snowboarding in 1998 and last year considered dropping one of the oldest summer Olympic sports, wrestling. It won a reprieve by cutting the number of rounds, making scoring snazzier and adding more women"s events. This year"s additions to a tournament were chosen partly because they attract lots of YouTube views and Twitter followers. They include the ski half-pipe; snowboard slope style and the luge team relay. It is all a far cry from curling, in which the team sweep the ice in front of a slowly moving stone—the thrill of which is nicely captured by the sport"s nickname; "chess on ice".

Write a letter to the president of your university to 1) suggest how to improve students" physical condition, and 2) include the details you think necessary, You should write about 100 words. Do not use your own name. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write your address.

Judging from recent surveys, most experts in sleep behavior agree that there is virtually an epidemic of sleepiness in the nation. "I can't think of a single study that hasn't found Americans getting【C1】______sleep than they ought to." says Dr. David. 【C2】______people who think they are sleeping enough would probably be【C3】______with more rest. The beginning of our sleep deficit crisis can be【C4】______to the invention of the light bulb a century ago. From diary entries and other personal【C5】______from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleep scientists have reached the【C6】______that the average person used to sleep about 9.5 hours a night. "The best sleep habits once were【C7】______on us, when we had nothing to do in the evening down on the farm, and it was dark." By the 1950s and 1960s, that sleep schedule had been reduced【C8】______, to between 7.5 and 8 hours, and most people had to wake to an alarm clock. "People cheat on their sleep, and they don't even【C9】______they're doing it," says Dr. David. "They think they're okay because they can【C10】______on 6.5 hours, when they really need 7.5, 8 or even more to feel ideally【C11】______." Perhaps the most merciless robber of sleep, researchers say, is the【C12】______of the day. Whenever pressures from work, family, friends and community【C13】______, many people consider sleep the least【C14】______item on the agenda. "In our society, you're considered【C15】______if you say you only need 5.5 hours' sleep. If you say you've got to get 8.5 hours, people think you lack【C16】______and ambition." To assess the【C17】______of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects【C18】______a set of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're sleep-deprived, performance【C19】______," says Dr. David. "Short-term memory is impaired,【C20】______are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate."

Suppose your friend Lucy asked you for some information about a successful interview. Write a letter to 1)give her some advice, and 2)express your best wishes. You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not write the address.(10 points)

As a wise man once said, we are all ultimately alone. But an increasing number of Europeans are choosing to be so at an ever earlier age. This isn't the stuff of gloomy philosophical contemplations, but a fact of Europe's new economic landscape, embraced by sociologists, realestate developers and ad executives alike. The shift away from family life to solo lifestyle, observes a French sociologist, is part of the "irresistible momentum of individualism" over the last century. The communications revolution, the shift from a business culture of stability to one of mobility and the mass entry of women into the workforce have greatly wreaked havoc on Europeans private lives. Europe's new economic climate has largely fostered the trend toward independence. The current generation of home-aloners came of age during Europe's shift from social democracy to the sharper, more individualistic climate of American-style capitalism. Raised in an era of privatization and increased consumer choice, today's tech-sawy workers have embraced a free market in love as well as economics. Modern Europeans are rich enough to afford to live alone, and temperamentally independent enough to want to do so. Once upon a time, people who lived alone tended to be those on either side of marriage twenty something professionals or widowed senior citizens. While pensioners, particularly elderly women, make up a large proportion of those living alone, the newest crop of singles are high earners in their 30s and 40s who increasingly view living alone as a lifestyle choice. Living alone was conceived to be negative—dark and cold, while being together suggested warmth and light. But then came along the idea of singles. They were young, beautiful, strong! Now, young people want to live alone. The booming economy means people are working harder than ever. And that doesn't leave much room for relationships. Pimpi Arroyo, a 35-year-old composer who lives alone in a house in Paris, says he hasn't got time to get lonely because he has too much work. "I have deadlines which would make life with someone else fairly difficult." Only an Ideal Woman would make him change his lifestyle, he says. Kaufmann, author of a recent book called "The Single Woman and Prince Chaming" thinks this fierce new individualism means that people expect more and more of mates, so relationships don't last long—if they start at all. Eppendorf, a blond Berliner with a deep tan, teaches grade school in the mornings. In the afternoon she sunbathes or sleeps, resting up for going dancing. Just shy of 50, she says she'd never have wanted to do what her mother did—give up a career to raise a family. Instead, "I've always done what I wanted to do: live a self-determined life."