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. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. While eco-minded chefs dishing up 1 mushrooms, the average American meal travels around 1,500 miles from farm to table. In the US, processing, packaging, transporting, storing and preparing fruit and vegetables requires about four times as much 2 as growing them in the first place. And around the world, up to a third of fresh food spoils in transit. The problem is that while the countryside is a great place to grow plants, with 3 water, free sunlight and fertilizer from livestock (家畜,牲畜), fewer and fewer people are living there. Over half the world now lives in cities, a proportion that will rise to 70% by 2050. If tomorrow's 4 centres are not to go hungry, they will 5 need to produce much more of the food their dwellers (居民) consume. At MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, two groups are 6 the problem from different directions. However, both MIT technologies are focusing on crops that are expensive in 7 , small and easy to grow. And although LEDs and digital sensors are becoming more 8 , neither system can compete on cost with traditional agriculture. "If you're really going to try to sell tomatoes, you have to compete with the guys with hectares (公顷) under cultivation in Mexico and California," says Mr. Haper, CityFarm's founder. "That's where we're all 9 and no one can do it yet. The technology to compete with 10 methods is still five or ten years away." A. abundant B. affordable C. aiming D. appearance E. claiming F. conventional G. definitely H. energy I. hopefully J. infinitely K. local L. resources M. supermarkets N. tackling O. urban
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.
Don't Fear the Male Babysitter
For decades, boys, not girls, were seen as the ideal people to be taking care of children. Why did that change? A. The very thought of a male babysitter (保姆) is enough to make some parents anxious. Every online parenting forum seems to have a thread on the issue of male babysitters, such as "Hiring a Male Babysitter (or Manny)" on the site Park Slope Parents. In a satire (讽刺作品) on The Onion titled, Desperate Mom Okays Male Babysitter, the mom normally wouldn't hire a male babysitter and knew it wasn't ideal, but she really needed the night off. B. In an article for the Washington Post, author Petula Dvorak hires a male babysitter and realizes it "is apparently something few parents would do." She said she received raised eyebrows from other parents at the playground when she introduced the new sitter and felt compelled to explain how long she's known him and how much she likes him to anyone who would listen. C. "When it comes to kids, we are pretty close to being a society that has demonized (妖魔化) men," Dvorak writes, noting that a government study found that in 96 percent of sexual assaults on children the offenders were male. D. This anxiety about male babysitters is remarkable when you look at the history of babysitting. Throughout the twentieth century, boys were not only accepted as babysitters, they were often preferred over girls. The reason is twofold: Teenage girls were dismissed as flighty (轻浮的) and selfish; and young boys needed male role models as their fathers were unemployed during the Great Depression or gone all at work in the latter half of the century. E. According to Miriam Forman-Brunell, a history professor and the author of Babysitter: An American History, babysitting in its modern incarnation (化身) came about in the 1920s, with "the expansion of suburbs for the first time." Parents were more likely to be separated from extended family members that once were relied on to watch children. Coincidentally, the 1920s also gave rise to the notion of a modern teenage girl who cared more about boys, movies and makeup than taking care of kids. To adults, the rise of the teenage girl signaled disorder and fueled anxieties. F. As Forman-Brunell writes, because adolescent girls "attended sports events and flirted with men on the street corners, especially in front of the innocent babies they took care of," the authors of a popular mid-1920s child-rearing manual criticized adolescent girls and dismissed them as acceptable child-care providers. G. Although babysitting first appeared in the 1920s, it didn't flourish as a cultural phenomenon until after World War II. The baby boom created plentiful jobs for babysitters. Still, though women had enjoyed greater employment opportunities during World War II, parents were hesitant to use a female babysitter. During this period, "parents were very anxious about hiring the girl next door, as has always been the case. It just has so much to do with their perception of teenage girls," says Forman-Brunell. H. Even as teenage girls were provoking anxiety in parents, male babysitters were idealized as the perfect solution. During the Great Depression, Forman-Brunell says, unemployed adolescent boys became "saviors (救星) to upset mothers and tired housewives unsatisfied with neighborhood girls." I. In glowing descriptions in Parents Magazine from the 1930s, it seemed as if there was nothing boy helpers couldn't do. Some child-rearing experts during the Great Depression believed that male babysitters could go so far as to "restore boyhood" for their young charges. While husbands became depressed due to unemployment or deserted their families, Parents Magazine reassured readers that boys were up to the task of babysitting. J. "It's surprising that you would find the entrepreneurial, perfect male babysitter in popular culture, but he's everywhere," says Forman-Brunell, "and he's not burdened by the same expectations that girls are." Being smart, competitive, and business-oriented were all considered positive characteristics of a male babysitter. K. By the late 1940s, some Ivy-League schools institutionalized babysitting for male college students. For example, Forman-Brunell writes, male undergraduates at Princeton organized the "Tiger Tot Tending Agency" where, beginning in 1946, "college boys babysat for the children of faculty members and married students for thirty-five cents an hour". One mother who hired male babysitters through the Tiger Tot agency told Princeton Alumni Weekly, "I loved the idea of four tall and strong young men watching over my baby daughter. Diapers (尿布) were changed with efficiency and calmness." Four men came for the price of one babysitter so they could have enough people for a bridge game. L. A 1940s New Yorker article reported that the Columbia University football coach—a former babysitter himself—created a sitting service for his players and was just as proud of their babysitting accomplishments as their hard work on the football field. The strong babysitters were able to maintain their manliness while caring for children. While tales of terrible babysitter experiences with teenage girls who racked up phone bills and ignored screaming children in order to be with their boyfriends continued to populate the media, so did accounts of capable, responsible male babysitters. M. When fathers were away at work in the 1950s, it was up to male sitters to instill manliness in young boys and turn boys into hardy men. A Life magazine cover story reported that 23 percent of the 7.9 million boys in the United States worked as babysitters in 1957, collectively earning an estimated $319 million. N. Even as gender differences began to blur in the 1970s, male babysitters were still seen as an ideal, as is apparent in the children's book George the Babysitter (1977). Long-haired George would cook and clean each day for the kids he babysat, and at the end of the day liked to sit and read a football magazine. The book made teenage boy babysitters seem both domestic and masculine. Up until the end of the 20th century, popular culture and children's books such as Arthur Babysits (1992) and Jerome the Babysitter (1995) boosted the reputation of teenage boys as smart, dependable babysitters. O. But today babysitting is most commonly viewed as a woman's domain. A Red Cross Babysitter Training Course video shows two women, one white and one black, babysitting. But there are no male sitters in the video. According to a Wall Street Journal article published earlier, Sittercity.com, an online marketplace for babysitting, has 94 percent female sitters, while SmartSitting.com, an agency that matches highly educated sitters with New York families reports that 87 percent of its sitters are female. P. Men have been so erased from the history of babysitting that the same Wall Street Journal article wrongly compares babysitting with cooking, saying, "Could childcare someday go the way of cooking? In the 1950s everyone assumed that women were better in the kitchen...these days, of course, cooking is gender neutral." The writer imagines a time in the future when babysitting "is no longer considered a girl's job," Little does she know that up until about 20 years ago, it wasn't a girl's job.
1. During the 20th century, boys were actually more popular than girls as babysitters.
D
[解析] 题干意为“在20世纪,男孩作为保姆事实上比女孩更受欢迎”。注意抓住关键词the 20th century和more popular。原文D段提到了20世纪保姆的情况。该段第二句中提到,在整个20世纪里,家长们不仅仅是接受男孩作为保姆,而且还更愿意选择男孩而不是女孩(来担任保姆)。题干中的more popular对应原文中的were often preferred over。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选D。
如今,照看小孩通常被看作是女性的工作。只是想想男保姆就足以让一些家长焦虑。事实上,几十年来,人们认为男孩是照顾小孩的理想人选。20世纪30年代,在《父母杂志》上文章的生动描述中,男保姆似乎是无所不能的好帮手。即使是在20世纪70年代性别差异开始变模糊的时候,男保姆仍被认为是理想的选择,为什么现在却变了呢?
2. Petula Dvorak found that other parents were quite shocked about the fact that she hired a male babysitter.
3. Several child-rearing experts during the Great Depression held that male babysitters could even "restore boyhood" for the children.
I
[解析] 题干意为“经济大萧条时期的一些育儿专家认为,男保姆甚至可以为孩子们‘重建少年时代’”。注意抓住题干中的关键词child-rearing experts during the Great Depression。原文I段提到了二战时期育儿专家的相关内容。该段第二句中提到,一些经济大萧条时期的育儿专家认为,男保姆有能力为他们所照顾的小孩子“重建少年时代”。题干中的held与原文中的believed同义,由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选I。
4. The media of the 1940s described teenage girls as bad babysitters and boys as responsible ones.
L
[解析] 题干意为“20世纪40年代的媒体将十几岁的少女描述为糟糕的保姆,而将男孩描述为负责任的保姆”。注意抓住题干中的关键词media of the 1940s。原文L段提到了关于20世纪40年代媒体对于保姆的描述。该段末句中提到,糟糕的女保姆的故事,例如女保姆打爆电话和为了与男朋友一起而不管哭泣的小宝宝的报道充斥媒体,而与此同时,对于男保姆能干负责的描述也没有停止过。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选L。
5. According to Forman-Brunell, parents during World War II were still not quite willing to hire female babysitters.
G
[解析] 题干意为“根据福尔曼一布鲁奈尔所说,二战期间的家长仍然十分不愿意雇佣女保姆”。注意抓住题干中的关键词parents during World War Ⅱ和female babysitters。原文G段提到了关于二战期间雇佣女保姆的情况。该段第三句中提到,尽管在二战期间女人享有了更多的就业机会,家长们还是不愿意雇佣女保姆。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选G。
6. A government study found that 96% of the sexual assaults on children were done by male.
C
[解析] 题干意为“一项政府研究发现,96%的儿童性侵案件都是由男性作案”。注意抓住题干中的关键词A government study和96%。原文C段提到了一项政府研究的相关内容。该段提到,德沃夏克写道:“当谈到小孩的时候,我们非常接近一个把男人妖魔化的社会”,并提到一个政府的调查发现,96%儿童性侵案件中的罪犯都是男性。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选C。
7. People did not have much expectation on boys as they did on girls in terms of babysitting.
J
[解析] 题干意为“在照看孩子方面,人们对男孩子没有像对女孩子那么高的期望”。注意抓住题干中的关键词expectation on boys。原文J段提到了关于人们对于男孩子作为保姆的期望的内容。该段中引用福尔曼一布鲁奈尔的话提到,如果你在流行文化中发现一些事业有成的完美男保姆,你会很意外,但是他其实无处不在。他也不用和女孩们承受同样的期望。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选J。
8. Nowadays, people generally consider females should do babysitting.
9. The notion of a modern teenage girl was developed in the 1920s.
E
[解析] 题干意为“现代少女的概念形成于20世纪20年代”。注意抓住题干中的关键词notion of a modern teenage girl和1920s。原文E段提到了现代少女概念的相关内容。该段第三句中提到,巧合的是,20世纪20年代也催生了现代少女的概念,即她们关注更多的是男生、电影和化妆,而不是照顾小孩。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选E。
10. George the Babysitter clearly showed that male babysitters were still seen as an ideal option in the 1970s.
N
[解析] 题干意为“《保姆乔治》清楚地表明,在20世纪70年代,男保姆依然被视作一种理想的选择”。注意抓住题干中的关键词George the Babysitter。原文N段提到了儿童读物《保姆乔治》的相关内容。该段首句中提到,即使是在20世纪70年代性别差异开始变模糊的时候,男保姆仍被认为是理想的选择,这在少儿读物《保姆乔治》(1977年)里体现得很明显。由此可知,题干是对原文的同义转述,故选N。
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.
Passage One
Interview Matters
It often happens that a number of applicants with almost identical qualifications and experience all apply for the same position. In their educational background, special skills and work experience, there is little, if anything, to choose between half a dozen candidates. How then does the employer make a choice? Usually on the basis of an interview. There are many arguments for and against the interview as a selection procedure. The main argument against it is that it results in a wholly subjective (主观的) decision. As often as not, employers do not choose the best candidate, they choose the candidate who makes a good first impression on them. The main argument in favor of the interview—and it is, perhaps, a good argument—is that an employer is concerned not only with a candidate's ability, but with the suitability of his or her personality for the particular work situation. Many employers, for example, will overlook occasional small mistakes from their secretary provided she has a pleasant personality. It is perhaps true to say, therefore, that the real purpose of an interview is not to assess the assessable aspects of each candidate but to make a guess at the more intangible (难以捉摸的;无形的) things, such as personality, character and social ability. Unfortunately, both for the employers and applicants for jobs, there are many people of great ability who simply do not interview well. There are also, of course, people who interview extremely well, but are later found to be very unsatisfactory employees. Candidates who interview well tend to be quite confident, but never boastful; direct and honest in their questions and answers; cheerful and friendly, but never over-familiar; and sincerely enthusiastic and optimistic. Candidates who interview badly tend to be at either end of the range of human behavior. They are either very shy or over-confident. They show either a lack of enthusiasm or an excess of it. They either talk too little or never stop talking. They are either over-polite or rudely abrupt.
1. What kind of candidates do employers often choose? ______
A.Those who received better education.
B.Those who made a good first impression.
C.Those with serious personality.
D.Those with good appearances.
A B C D
B
[解析] 根据题干中的employers often choose定位到原文第二段。该段最后一句中提到,很多时候,雇主选择的并非是最佳应聘者,而是给他们留下良好第一印象的应聘者。由此可知B项表述正确,故选B。
[参考译文]
On Friday evenings diners seeking a table at MeatLiquor, a fashionable burger restaurant in central London, can expect to queue for an hour. For big groups the wait doubles. At nearby Patty & Bun the decoration is less striking but the queues are no shorter. Britons are crazy in love with fancy burgers. Byron, a chain of fashionable burger diners, opened in 2007 on Kensington High Street. It now has 32 branches and will soon open new ones in Liverpool and Manchester. Gourmet Burger Kitchen, another fast-expanding chain, has 59 restaurants from Brighton to Edinburgh. In a slow economy few can stretch to the finest caviar (鱼子酱), but they can afford best ground beef. Byron attracts people who would not dream of going to McDonald's, says Tom Byng, its founder. Britons' appetite for fancy burgers reflects broader shifts. Since the financial crisis consumption of fish, fruit and vegetables has dropped; ready meals, particularly meaty ones, are up. Yet people are still eating out. It has consistently topped spending priorities after utility bills, says Helen Spicer, an analyst. At restaurants people want reliable treats that are gentle on the wallet. Burgers are nostalgic (怀旧的) and comforting, says Mr Byng. And dinner at Byron costs just 15 pounds. Many of the fancy burger suppliers started as pop-ups (弹出式广告), allowing restaurateurs to test their products and build a customer base before renting an expensive property. Their restaurants are frugal (节俭的). They have short menus, which are easier to do well. Fewer ingredients means less waste and more purchases. Restaurants then can keep prices low while still turning a comfortable profit. People eat fast, so lots of people can eat here in a limited time. Honest Burger, in London, can turn its tables as many as five times at lunch and seven or eight times at dinner. Full-service restaurants might manage one turnover (周转) at lunch and two at dinner. Investors are now tempted by another meat, says David Campbell, head of the restaurants and bars team at BDO, a consultancy. There is little in the way of an upmarket Kentucky Fried Chicken. Might fashionable chicken have wings?
1. What can we know from the first two paragraphs? ______
A.All Britons like to eat burgers on Friday evenings.
B.Fancy burgers are the Britons' favorite food.
C.Byron will have more branches in a short time.
D.Gourmet Burger Kitchen has 59 branches in Edinburgh.