- A+
Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then express your views on the importance of studying math. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
1. A) The man must be an excellent student.
B) The man’s idea is probably a good one.
C) The man had better drop more than one course.
D) The man would not have dropped the best course of the four.
2. A) It was really wonderful.
B) It was so full of violent scenes.
C) It wasn’t as good as he had expected.
D) It was overly concerned with romantic relationships.
3. A) She’s not sure how to solve the mystery.
B) She still hasn’t heard what was shocking.
C) She wasn’t able to manage the project well.
D) She’s not sure how she was able to finish so early.
4. A) The man should wait for a while. C) The man should listen to others’ opinion.
B) The man should keep it as a secret. D) She would like to know about that problem.
5. A) He is suspected of cheating. C) He left the answers on his desk.
B) He doesn’t know how to explain.D) He didn’t know the answers to the questions.
6. A) She hasn’t cleaned her room, either.
B) She left her room on time this morning.
C) She can help the man clean up his room.
D) She doesn’t know the mess the man have made in her room.
7. A) She will lend the man her computer. C) She has no computer at the moment.
B) She has only one computer. D) Her computer has broken down.
8. A) The signing is very necessary. C) The signing is required.
B) The signing is just a reassurance. D) The signing is a way to monitor abuse.
Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
9. A) Planning for the next weekend.
B) Complaining about their children.
C) Looking for an apartment to live in.
D) Discussing living places and children’s education.
10. A) The natural environment is beneficial to children.
B) The countryside is a perfect place for weekends.
C) There’s much to do besides work and study.
D) It’s convenient for people to go anywhere.
11. A) There isn’t a lot to see and do for children.
B) There is a lot to see and do for children and adults.
C) The children are too young to benefit from city life.
D) Even adults themselves cannot go everywhere in the city.
12. A) She is a full-time housewife.
B) She does not care for her children.
C) She will go to a museum next weekend.
D) She used to live in the suburbs in her childhood.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
13. A) She couldn’t go to Spain for holiday this summer.
B) She couldn’t communicate with Spanish people very well.
C) She didn’t learn enough Spanish vocabulary.
D) She had few chances to speak Spanish in Spain.
14. A) By reading the BBC book. C) By watching BBC programs.
B) By going to an evening class of BBC. D) By going to Spain to talk with Spanish people.
15. A) Learn more grammar and vocabulary. C) Understand Spanish cultures well.
B) Watch more BBC television programs. D) Do more practice in speaking Spanish.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) The consequence of stress. C) The realities of stress.
B) The negative effect of stress. D) The positive effect of stress.
17. A) By finding out how to get rid of it. C) By getting more of it.
B) By getting the right amount of it.D) By exercising vigorously.
18. A) Health. C) A disaster.
B) Training. D) Music.
19. A) Teach people how to reduce stress.
B) Teach people where stress comes from.
C) Teach people how to use stress effectively.
D) Teach people how to be more productive.
Passage Two
Questions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.
20. A) People use too many man-made materials.
B) People from the countryside rush into the cities.
C) Man has a strong desire for a modern way of life.
D) People are producing more cars, trucks and buses.
21. A) The development of industry. C) The future of our children.
B) Healthy life. D) Clean air.
22. A) To tell us where the society is going.
B) To tell us the importance of industrialization.
C) To show confidence of the prosperity of the modern society.
D) To show great concern over the future of the modern society.
Passage Three
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
23. A) To enjoy his first day off work.C) To watch his favourite TV talk show.
B) To go out for a walk in the park. D) To read the newspaper to his children.
24. A) Drawing on the wall. C) Feeding the fish.
B) Eating apple jam. D) Reading in a room.
25. A) He had to take his wife back. C) He suddenly had to go to his office.
B) He wanted to clean up his house.D) He found it hard to manage his boys home.
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
Many teachers believe that the responsibilities for learning lie with the student. If a long reading assignment is given, instructors expect students to 26 the information in the reading even if they do not discuss it in class or take an examination. The 27 student is considered to be one who is motivated to learn for the sake of learning, not the one interested only in getting high grades. Sometimes homework is returned with brief written comments but without a grade. Even if a grade is not given, the student 28 learning the material assigned. When research is assigned, the professor expects the student to take it actively and to complete it with 29 guidance. It is the student’s 30 to find books, magazines, and articles in the library. Professors do not have the time to explain how a university library works; they expect students, 31 graduate students, to be able to exhaust the reference sources in the library. Professors will help students who need it, but prefer that their students should not 32 them. In the United States professors have many other duties besides teaching, such as 33 or research work. Therefore, the time that a professor can spend with a student outside of class is 34 . If a student has problems with classroom work, the student should either 35 a professor during office hours or make an appointment.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank
from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully
before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the
corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may
not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.
Whether you think you need daytime rest or not, picking up a nap (午睡) habit is a smart, healthy move. Naps 36 relaxation, better mood and alertness, and a sharper working mind.
Several studies have shown that people remember new information better when they take a nap shortly after learning it. And, most 37 , a 2007 study of nearly 24,000 Greek adults found that people who napped 38 had a 37 percent reduced risk of dying from heart disease compared to people who didn’t nap.
Of course, napping isn’t right for everyone. If you’re suffering from inability to sleep, naps that are too long or taken too late in the day can 39 with your ability to fall or stay asleep at night.
But for most, naps can make you feel sharper and happier. Naps provide different benefits, 40 on how long they are. A 20-minute nap will boost alertness and concentration; a 90-minute snooze (小睡) can enhance creativity.
According to prevention.com, you 41 a natural dip in body temperature between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. A short nap at this time can boost alertness for several hours.
Prevention.com 42 napping on the couch instead of in bed, so you are less 43 to snooze for too long.
Surprisingly, the best place to take a snap may be a hammock (吊床). A Swiss study 44 last year found that people fell asleep faster and had deeper sleep when they napped in a hammock than in a bed. That same rocking motion that puts babies to 
sleep works 45 for grown-ups, too.
A) illustratesI) depending
B) interfereJ) published
C) pronouncedK) regularly
D) focusing L) passions
E) promote M) experience
F) wondersN) subjected
G) incrediblyO) recommends
H) inclined
Section B
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
Even Google won’t be around for ever, let alone Facebook
In the world of internet technology a company can go from zero to hero in a very short time.
A) Some years ago, when the Google Books 
project, which aims to digitise all of the world’s printed books, was getting under way, the two co-founders of Google were having a meeting with the librarian of one of the universities that had signed up for the plan. At one point in the conversation, the Google boys noticed that their collaborator had suddenly gone rather quiet. One of them asked him what was the matter. “Well”, he replied, “I’m wondering what happens to all this stuff when Google no longer exists.” Recounting the conversation to me later, he said: “I’ve never seen two young people looking so stunned (震惊的): the idea that Google might not exist one day had never crossed their minds.” And yet, of course, the librarian was right. He had to think about the next 400 years. But the number of commercial companies that are more than a century old is vanishingly small.
Entrusting the world’s literary heritage to such transient (短暂的) organisations might not be entirely wise.
B) Compared with my librarian friend, we have the attention span of newts. We are constantly overawed (使敬畏) by the size, wealth and dominance of whatever happens to be the current corporate giant. At the moment, the four leading monsters are Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. Yet 18 years ago, Apple was weeks away from extinction, Amazon had just launched, Google was still three years away from incorporation and Facebook lay nine years into the future.
C) At one level, all this proves is that in the technology world one can go from zero to hero in a very short time. (Or, in Apple’s case, from hero to zero and back to hero again in 36 years). Some of the industry’s greatest executives understood this very well. Andy 
Grove, for instance, who led Intel for 11 years, was famous for his mantra “Only the paranoid survive”. For many years — when he led Microsoft and before he embarked on saving the world — Bill Gates appeared to have the same sentiment tattooed on his forehead. And in both cases they turned out to be right: though Intel and Microsoft are still significant companies, their dominance has ended. The processors that dominate the market for mobile devices are designed by ARM, a Cambridge company, not by Intel; and Microsoft’s monopolistic (垄断的) grip on the desktop computing market turned out to be a wasting asset.
D) We understand pretty well the factors that determine the fortunes of companies that make things people buy — which is why, for example, one can predict that Apple won’t be able indefinitely to sustain its huge profit margins on its iDevices. Likewise, it’s pretty easy to predict where Amazon is headed: it aims to be the Walmart of the web, and is therefore likely to be around for quite a while. Google has a well understood and currently profitable business model and a huge technical infrastructure but ultimately is vulnerable (难防御的) to a well-resourced competitor armed with better search technology.
E) This leaves Facebook, a company that has one billion products (called users) and earns its living by selling information about them to advertisers. Given that holders of Facebook accounts don’t pay for the service — and are therefore free to depart at any point — you’d have thought that its long-term durability would be questionable. And yet lots of informed and canny (精明的) investors disagree. They appear to regard the company as a sure-fire bet.
F) The two key factors that will determine Facebook’s future are the power of network effects and the “stickiness” of its service — ie, the extent to which it can dissuade users from leaving. A network effect comes into play when the value of a product or service is dependent on the number of people using it. A telephone network with a million subscribers is infinitely more valuable then one with only 10. In technological ecosystems, network effects are very powerful: they explain, for example, how Microsoft came to dominate the market for desktop operating and office systems.
G) In the early days of online social networking there were a range of different, incompatible (不兼容的) networks — Friendster, Orkut, MySpace and Facebook. But, over time, Facebook won out by attracting more users and growing more quickly than the others. And the more quickly it grew, the more powerful the network effect became, with the result that it is now the de facto (实际上存在的) standard for social networking. In fact, it is now so dominant that millions of people around the world think that Facebook is the internet.
H) If you put your faith in network effects, therefore, Facebook looks like a good investment because it’ll be around for the long term. If people want to do social networking, then it’ll be the only game in town. Facebook users will constitute a captive market and will be correspondingly exploited. And the company will be regulated as a monopoly.
I) Which is where “stickiness” comes in. How much exploitation will users tolerate before they decide to quit? We know a lot about network effects but relatively little about this, which is why a new study by three scientists at the Swiss university ETH Zurich makes interesting reading. They examined several social networking services, seeking to identify what makes them resilient and what could cause them to decline. And they performed an empirical autopsy on a failed service — Friendster — using data gathered just before it closed. The key determinants of success or failure were (i) the average number of friends that users have and (ii) whether the difficulty of using the site comes to outweigh the perceived benefits. Facebook is doing OK on the first of these criteria but — in my experience — becoming increasingly vulnerable on the second as the company tries to “monetise (货币化)” its users. If Mark Zuckerberg’s empire can’t square this circle then not even the power of network effects will save it in the long run.
46. According to the passage, Apple got very close to bankruptcy 18 years ago.
47. In the informed and clever investors’ views, Facebook is a worthwhile investment in the long run.
48. In fact, the effect of Facebook became so powerful that it is now the standard for social networking.
49. Some of the greatest executives knew well that in the technology world a company can go from zero to hero in a very short time.
50. According to the author, Facebook becomes increasingly vulnerable on the second of the criteria for deciding a social network’s success or failure.
51. The example of Microsoft’s gaining dominance in the desktop operating system shows that network effects are very powerful.
52. Most of today’s commercial companies were founded not long ago.
53. Facebook seems a good investment to those who put their faith in network effects.
54. When the librarian mentioned that Google might not exist one day, the two founder of the company were extremely surprised.
55. According to the author’s analysis, the fortune of Amazon will exist for a fairly long time.
Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
A Buffalo charter school, run by a for-profit company, received $7.2 million in taxpayer money last year to educate about 500 elementary and middle school students. But at the end of the year, the audit it submitted to the state listed its expenses only in broad brushstrokes, including $1.3 million in rent for a building the company owned, $976,000 for executive administration and $361,000 in professional fees.
Officials from the New York State teachers’ union, testifying at a crowded State Senate hearing, raised the case of the school, Buffalo United, as an example of what it said was wrong with the oversight of charter schools throughout the state. The union said the case supported its view that no new charter schools should be authorized unless oversight is strengthened.
“How much is profit?” asked Andrew Pallotta, the executive vice president of New York State United Teachers. “There is truly too much we don’t know and can’t know.”
The union’s concerns fell on mostly friendly ears at the all-day hearing, which had been called by Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem, an outspoken critic of the charter school movement. Teachers’ unions have generally opposed charter schools, which tend not to be unionized. On Thursday, the state union listed allegations against charter schools that included conflict of interest and outright theft. Brooklyn Charter School in Bedford-Stuyvesant, it said, had acquired, as a subsidiary, a bridal shop linked to the president of the school’s board. A state comptroller’s audit of a second Buffalo charter school, Western New York Maritime, found that big-screen televisions and computer equipment had been sent to the personal addresses of employees, the union said.
“The corruption and the politicization are the Achilles’ heel of the movement,” Mr. Perkins said.
Officials responsible for authorizing and overseeing charter schools said there was room for more accountability and transparency from charter schools, but they said that the controls were already robust.
“It is good that the bad actors have come to light,” said John B. King Jr., the senior deputy commissioner of the state Education Department. “I actually think that there is a lot of common ground here, and if we create the right conversation, there is room to both improve charters and increase the number.”
56. What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A) Most charter schools are run by for-profit companies.
B) The expense-list of a charter school was not transparent.
C) Charter schools should be monitored over education quality.
D) A Buffalo charter school seemed to have over-spent last year.
57. What does New York State teachers’ union think of charter schools?
A) They should be canceled and no new ones should be authorized.
B) They can regulate themselves well without outside intervention.
C) They should subject themselves to teachers’ union’s supervision.
D) They should get more strict supervision before new ones’ being set up.
58. The term “Achilles’ heel” in Paragraph 5 can be replaced by “______”.
A) vulnerable spot B) characteristic C) inevitable problem D) peak
59. What is said about officials responsible for authorizing and overseeing charter schools?
A) They were determined to supervise charter schools strictly.
B) Their behaviour on charter schools confirmed to their words.
C) They thought they had put a good control on charter schools.
D) Their supervision on charter schools was transparent enough.
60. What is John B. King Jr.’s attitude towards authorizing more charter schools?
A) Opposed. B) Concerned.C) Approved. D) Indifferent.
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
Some 23 million additional U.S. residents are expected to become more regular users of the U.S. health care system in the next several years, thanks to the passage of health care reform. Digitizing medical data has been promoted as one way to help the already burdened system manage the surge in patients. But putting people’s health information in databases and online is going to do more than simply reduce redundancies (冗余). It is already shifting the very way we seek and receive health care.
“The social dynamics of care are changing,” says John Gomez, vice president and chief technology strategy officer at Eclipsys, a medical information technology company. Most patients might not yet be willing to share their latest CT scan images over Facebook, he notes, but many parents post their babies’ ultrasound (超声波) images, and countless patients nowadays use social networking sites to share information about conditions, treatments and doctors.
With greater access to individualized health information — whether that is through a formal electronic medical record, a self-created personal health record or a quick instant-messaging session with a physician — the traditional roles of doctors and patients are undergoing a rapid transition.
“For as long as we’ve known, health care has been ‘I go to the physician, and they tell me what to do, and I do it’,” says Nitu Kashyap, a physician and research fellow at the Yale Center for Medical Informatics. Soon more patients will be arriving at a hospital or doctor’s office having reviewed their own record, latest test results and recommended articles about their health concerns. And even more individuals will be able to skip that visit altogether, instead sending a text message or e-mail to their care provider or consulting a personal health record or smart-phone application to answer their questions.
These changes will be strengthened by the nationwide shift to electronic medical records, which has already begun. Although the majority of U.S. hospitals and doctors’ offices are still struggling to start the changeover, many patients already have electronic medical records — and some even have partial access to them. The MyChart program, in use at Cleveland Clinic, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and other facilities, is a Web portal (门户) through which patients can see basic medical information as well as some test results.
Medical data is getting a new digital life, and it is jump-starting a “fundamental change in how care is provided”, Gomez says.
61. What does the author say about putting patient information in databases and online?
A) It contributes to the passage of health care reform.
B) It changes how people seek and receive health care.
C) It increases the burden of the U.S. health care system.
D) It enables more Americans to join the health care system.
62. What do many patients use social networking sites to do according to John Gomez?
A) To improve their social interactions. C) To show their babies’ recent pictures.
B) To post their latest CT scan images. D) To share information about their health care.
63. According to Nitu Kashyap, more patients in the future will ______.
A) be more dependent on their doctors C) have their illness cured through e-mail
B) refuse to follow their doctors’ advice D) leave out their visit to doctors’ offices and hospitals
64. It is stated in the the fifth paragraph that ______.
A) most of U.S. hospitals and doctors are against the shift
B) nationwide digitalization of medical data will begin soon
C) patients are starting to make use of their electronic medical records
D) patients are worried about the security of their health information
65. Which of the following titles best summarises the main idea of the passage?
A) The Future of Your Medical Data
B) Benefits of the U.S. Health Care Reform
C) Challenges against Doctors and Hospitals
D) How to Access and Share Your Health Information
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
儒家思想（Confucianism）由孔子（Confucius）在春秋时期（the Spring and Autumn Period）创立，并迅速成为中国文化的核心内容（pillar）之一。儒家重视道德和人与人之间的关系，着力于关注人类社会秩序的和谐安定；对于虚无飘渺的神灵（illusory divine）世界，尽量采取回避的态度，或按照自己的观念加以改造而得到强化。儒学对中国文化产生了巨大的影响，其价值观念渗透（permeate）在中国人民的生活、思想和习俗中。
