1. Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on stress management. Your essay should include the importance of stress management and measures to be taken to cope with stress. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
[范文]
Stress Management
Stress in various guises in the society, such as job stress, interpersonal stress and emotional stress, makes us out of breath. If this situation continues to worsen, our physical and mental status will raise the alarm. Thus, it's urgent to relieve stress. For one thing, stress gives rise to immunity deterioration, which causes many health problems. For another, getting rid of stress helps us live in a positive cycle. What measures can be taken to reduce pressure? Here are some useful suggestions for you. On the one hand, when you are overwhelmed by stress and anguish, it's a better idea to fully confide your feelings to your intimate relatives and friends. On the other hand, regular exercise is another recommendable way to get relaxed because you can produce a hormone that makes you happy by doing exercises. Last but not least, you can transfer your focus by reading an interesting book or listening to a favorite song, thereby calming yourself down. In a word, stress doesn't hold any fear for us. Once we grasp correct methods to cope with stress, trouble will be dismissed from our mind.
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension
Section A Directions:In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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.
[听力原文] M: Are you going to the demonstration to help stop the spread of nuclear weapons tomorrow, Cleo? W: No, Simon. I hate demonstrations. I have heard the police will be standing by with tear gas. M: Yes, but North Korea boasts it has nuclear arms. W: One hundred ninety countries have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but the issues are just too complex. There are two sides to every story. I don't understand it and I have no intention of going to a demonstration. Demonstrations don't seem to accomplish anything anyway. M: Several demonstrations have changed politician's minds throughout history. As a responsible citizen I think it is important to stand up for what you believe in. W: Leave it to someone else. As I said, if you listen to both sides of a story, both sides have some good points. Why should I demonstrate and risk getting hurt for something that I am not even sure is right? M: You are not likely to get hurt. This will be a peaceful demonstration. I have spoken to the organizer for the university group. He insists that this will be peaceful. He advocates if you want world peace, peace begins at home—and that means right here in this city. W: You go if you want, Simon, but I plan to study for my physics exam. M: It would only take two hours of your day. The bus leaves the campus at 11:30 and leaves downtown to return to campus at 12:45. You could eat your lunch on the bus. W: I am not going, Simon.Why don't you ask the students in your political science class this afternoon if they want to go? M: They are all going. W: Okay, Simon. I need to meet my sister for coffee now. M: Bye then. See you in physics class tomorrow.
What do we know about the demonstration from the conversation?
[听力原文] M: Jessica, do you know something about the Ethical Consumer Research Association? W: Yes. As far as I am concerned, it's an organization that provides information for shoppers, like letting shoppers know what the companies are doing behind the products that they see on the store shelves. And, these shoppers are concerned with some ethical issues. M: Could you give me some examples? W: Well, they may want to know that the product they are buying hasn't been made at the expense of people who are producing it, whether it's in this country or abroad. They might also be concerned with other kinds of issues, for example, whether the company is involved in selling arms. M: But how can one become an ethical shopper when buying things? W: One way of thinking about ethical shopping is thinking about buying less. Well, you see, sometimes we buy a lot more than we need. We buy more items of clothing than we need. So being an ethical shopper really means thinking a bit before you go and spend your money in the shops. M: Could you give me some advice'? W: You see, something may cost a bit more in the short run, but be worth it in the long ran. So if you are paying for quality, something will last you longer and then save you money. And sometimes you can buy things second-hand and the quality in most second-hand shops is really very good these days. So it's about thinking before you shop. M: Thanks for your advice, Jessica. W: My pleasure.
What is the information provided by the Ethical Consumer Research Association about?
C.Expensive things last longer than the cheap ones.
D.The less you spend the more you can save.
A B C D
A
[听力原文] What can we learn from the conversation?
[解析] 女士最后给的建议中提到有时可以买二手东西,很多二手商店的东西质量也很不错,故选A。
Section B Directions:In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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.
D.The weight of the boxes moving across the stage.
A B C D
B
[听力原文] A scientific team is studying the thinking ability of eleven-and-a-half-month-old children. The test is a simple one. The baby watches a sort of show on a small stage. In Act I of the show, a yellow cube is lifted from a blue box and moved across the stage. Then it is returned to the box. This is repeated six times. Act Ⅱ is similar, except that the yellow cube is smaller. Baby boys do not react at all to the difference in the size of the cube, but girls immediately become excited. The scientists interpret the girls' excitement as meaning they are trying to understand what they have just seen. They are wondering why Act Ⅱ is odd and how it differs from Act I. In other words, the little girls are reasoning. This experiment certainly does not definitely prove that girls start to reason before boys. But it provides a clue that scientists would like to study more carefully. Already it is known that bones, muscles, and nerves develop faster in baby girls. Perhaps it is early nerve development that makes some infant girls show more intelligence than infant boys. Scientists have also found that nature seems to give another boost to girls. Baby girls usually talk at an earlier age than boys do. Scientists think that there is a physical reason for this. They believe that the nerve endings in the left side of the brain develop faster in girls than in boys. And it is this side of the brain that strongly influences an individual's ability to use language and remember things.
What is the difference between Act I and Act Ⅱ in the test?
2.
A.Boys enjoy playing with cubes more than girls.
B.Girls tend to get excited more easily than boys.
C.Girls seem to start reasoning earlier than boys.
D.Boys pay more attention to moving objects than girls.
A B C D
C
[听力原文] How do the scientists interpret their observation from the experiment?
3.
A.It is a breakthrough in the study of the nerve system.
B.It may stimulate scientists to make further studies.
C.Its result helps understand babies' language ability.
D.Its findings are quite contrary to previous research.
A B C D
B
[听力原文] What does the speaker say about the experiment?
4.
A.The two sides of their brain develop simultaneously.
B.They are better able to adapt to the surroundings.
C.Their bones mature earlier.
D.They talk at an earlier age.
A B C D
D
[听力原文] According to scientists, what is another advantage given to girls by nature?
[听力原文] The Bermuda Triangle is one of the greatest mysteries of the sea. In this triangular area between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda in the Atlantic, ships and airplanes seem to disappear more often than in other parts of the ocean. And they do so without leaving any sign of an accident or any dead bodies. It is said that Christopher Columbus was the first person to record strange happenings in the area. His compass stopped working, a flame came down from the sky, and a wave 100 to 200 feet high carried his ship about a mile away. The most famous disappearance in the Bermuda Triangle was the U.S. Naval Air Flight 19. On December 5, 1945, five bomber planes carrying 14 men took off on a training mission from the Florida coast. Later that day, all communications with Flight 19 were lost. They just disappeared without a trace. The next morning, 242 planes and 19 ships took part in the largest air-sea search in history. But they found nothing. Some people blame the disappearances on supernatural forces. It is suggested the missing ships and planes were either transported to other times and places, kidnapped by aliens or attacked by sea creatures. There are also natural explanations, though. The U.S. Navy says that the Bermuda triangle is one of two places on earth where a magnetic compass points towards true north instead of magnetic north. Therefore, planes and ships can lose their way if they don't make adjustments. The area also has changing weather and is known for its high waves. Storms can turn up suddenly and destroy a plane or ship. Fast currents could then sweep away any trace of an accident.
What happened when Columbus sailed across the Bermuda Triangle?
[解析] 短文提到,哥伦布到达百慕大魔鬼三角区时,一个一两百英尺高的浪头将他的船冲出了一英里远,故B为答案。 water current、great noise和rough storms均未在短文中出现。在谈到哥伦布的情况时,短文compass、flame、wave,本题只要听到wave一词,也能选对答案,因为短文听力经常是“听到什么选什么”。
6.
A.Kidnap by aliens.
B.Kidnap by ghosts.
C.Attack from sea creatures.
D.Transportation to other times and places.
A B C D
B
[听力原文] Which assumption is not mentioned in the passage to explain the disappearances of ships and planes?
Section C Directions:In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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.
[听力原文] Being amused is a condition we're all familiar with, but what exactly is a sense of humor? Well, it's something very personal, and yet we communicate it to others by laughing. Laughter is a universal human expression. All normal human beings can laugh. Children as young as one month old will laugh. People often laugh together, and people laugh louder and more frequently when other people around them are also laughing. Every comedian knows this, and research has confirmed it. Physically, laughter is an involuntary, tensing of the chest muscles, followed by a rapid inhalation and exhalation of breath—a mechanism that releases tension. For most people, a good laugh is welcome—and worth looking for—because it brings pleasure and relief. Human adults everywhere in the world enjoy making their children laugh. Adults make playful attacks on their children, tickling, teasing, and even pretending to bite them. Adults will throw small children up in the air and catch them again. This causes the child to experience mild stress, but in a secure setting because the stress is carefully controlled by the parent. And when the child laughs, it's a signal that he or she has successfully dealt with mild feelings of insecurity. This teaches the child about the shocks and fears that are part of human life, and which every human eventually has to deal with. This element of shock in an otherwise safe situation is a universal characteristic of situations where people laugh. Our sense of humor allows us to tell stories about situations we haven't experienced firsthand. We call these little stories "jokes." We tell jokes to show our frustration with the society we live in, especially its ...well, its rules. Social rules and conventions provide us with a range of situations that we can turn into humor. And the things we joke about—the conventions and rules we live by—are sort of tense areas in our society, they're areas where we can see the need for change. Humor gives us the power to think about changing the rules. Making jokes and laughing are safe ways to change our social rules and conventions. Therefore, comedians—whether they know it or not—are agents of social change.
According to the professor, why do most people welcome laughter?
[考点] 细节题。 [解析] 录音中提到“...a mechanism that releases tension. For most people, a good laugh is welcome—and worth looking for—because it brings pleasure and relief”,由此可知,人们喜欢笑声是因为它可以带来欢乐,使人放松,故答案为B项。
2.
A.Confusion about what is happening.
B.Injury to someone who is a stranger.
C.Ability to remember a funny name.
D.Shock or stress in a safe situation.
A B C D
D
[听力原文] Which of the following is a universal characteristic of situations where people laugh?
[考点] 细节题。 [解析] 录音中提到“This element of shock in an otherwise safe situation is a universal characteristic of situations where people laugh”,因此使人们笑的环境的特点是在安全的情景下感觉到吃惊或有压力。
3.
A.To suggest that many rules for comedians are not effective,
B.To find out what students think about rules and conventions.
C.To show that humor is a safe way to bring about social change.
D.To explain why people enjoy telling stories that are not true.
A B C D
C
[听力原文] Why does the professor talk about social rules and conventions?
[考点] 推断题。 [解析] 录音中提到“Social rules and conventions provide us with a range of situations that we can turn into humor”,也就是说社会规则和习俗提供了一系列的情景,我们可以将其转化为幽默,同时还提到“Humor gives us the power to think about changing the rules”,幽默给予我们力量思考改变这些规则。由此可知C项正确。
[听力原文] Hostess: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. It gives me great pleasure to introduce today's speaker, Dr. Smith, a professor at the University of British Columbia. He will give us a lecture about art history. Professor Smith: Good morning, everyone. In today's lecture, I'd like to spend some time discussing with you the following topic: Why do we need to study art history and what can we learn from it? A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics and war. But art history focuses on much more than this. Because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors—or of people very different from our own can be provided by art. In short, a study of art enables us to learn more things about human society and civilization. Most people who want to know our history like to read history books. In history books, information is objective. Art, on the other hand, is subjective. It will reflect personal emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly "political" artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May 1808, he showed soldiers shooting a group of simple people. In summary, through art you can find a personal and emotional view of history. Art can also reflect a culture's religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art was almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that showed people and stories from the Bible. By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was and still is, its absence of human and animal images. This reflects Islamic belief that these images are unholy. Thus, on palaces, mosques and other buildings, Islamic artists have created unique decoration of great beauty with images of flowers and geometric forms. To conclude my lecture, we can say that art is a reflection of various cultures. But at the same time, we have to remember that art also reflects the changes in society that take place when different cultures influence one another. As people from tribal societies move to urban areas, their values and beliefs change accordingly. And their traditional art forms begin to lose their function. At the same time, urban artists begin to learn a lot from traditional art. The result is that, as the world gets smaller, the art of each culture becomes more international.
What do typical history courses concentrate on?
[解析] 快速浏览本部分各题的所有选项,根据political values、religious beliefs、the Bible、traditional art等可推测本文可能与文化和艺术有关。 四个选项都是名词性短语,涉及政治、文化、经济等方面。 讲座中提到Most typical history courses concentrate on politics,economics and war,可知大多数典型的历史课重点关注的是政治、经济和战争事件。故D项为正确答案。A、B两项均为艺术所涉及的内容:艺术不仅是对一个民族的政治价值观的反映,也是对宗教信仰、情感和心理的反映,故排除A、B两项;C项讲座中没有提到,也可排除。
5.
A.A soldier's survival from wars.
B.The shooting at a number of painters.
C.Soldiers shooting a group of simple people.
D.Francisco Goya's interesting experiences in Spain.
A B C D
C
[听力原文] What does the painting The Third of May 1808 depict?
B.The description of people and stories from the Bible.
C.The absence of flowers and geometric forms.
D.The buildings decorated with images of landscape.
A B C D
A
[听力原文] What is one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East?
[解析] 四个选项都是名词性短语;两个选项涉及the absence of。本题考查的内容可能与某一事物的特点有关,听音时注意选项中的关键词human、animal、stories、flowers、geometric forms、landscape。 讲座中提到By contrast,one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was and still is,its absence of human and animal images. 由此可知,中东艺术的一个主要特征就是没有人类和动物的形象,故A项正确。B、C项错误;D项讲座中没有提到,排除。
7.
A.Modem artists are more acceptable than traditional artists.
B.Traditional art and modem art have their own characteristics.
C.Traditional culture can only be preserved through internationalization.
D.Art reflects social changes that take place as different cultures influence one another.
A B C D
D
[听力原文] What does Professor Smith emphasize at the end of the lecture?
[解析] 四个选项均为一般现在时,表示某种观点。本题考查的内容可能是某种结论或观点。 讲座的最后部分提到But at the same time,we have to remember that art also reflects the changes in society that take place when different cultures influence one another.可知史密斯教授强调随着不同文化的相互影响,艺术也是不断变迁的社会的反映,故D项正确。A、B、C三项在讲座中均未提及,故排除。
[听力原文]
Speaking at the British Science Festival on Tuesday, Prof Kelley called for an end to early starts at schools, colleges and universities to "improve the lives of a generation". School start times should be put back to as late as 11am to combat a lack-of-sleep crisis among young people, Paul Kelley, the scientist at the University of Oxford has suggested. He said young people in Britain were losing on average 10 hours' sleep a week, making them lose more sleep than a junior doctor on a 24-hour shift.
He said children aged 8 to 10 should start school at 8:30am or later, and 16-year-olds should start at 10am and 18-year-olds at 11am.
Kelley has been working to push for substantial change in the approach to sleep for children.
"At the age of 10 you get up and go to school and it fits in with our nine-to-five lifestyle, " Kelley said. Ignoring our natural body clock could lead to exhaustion, frustration, anxiety, weight gain and high blood pressure, he said, and could make a person more prone to alcohol use and risk-taking. The recommendations arise from a deeper understanding of our internal body clock, which determines optimum levels of concentration, wakefulness and work ability.
He said families had a key role to play in ensuring children get enough sleep. In school sessions aimed at teaching children how to improve their sleep, Meadows said, 96% of participants said they used a phone or mobile device in the last 30 minutes before sleep. "We're finding that children have phones or tablets from the age of about 10 or 11. These devices emit light which is similar to the light from the sun and they essentially trick our brains into thinking we should be active, not winding down for sleep, and that interferes with our body clock," he said.
"This is a huge issue for society," Kelley said. "We are generally a lacking-in-sleep society but the 14-to-24 age group lacks more sleep than any other sector of society. This causes serious threats to health, mood, performance and mental health. "
Similar changes are not seen in children who get eight-and-a-haft hours sleep a night. Kelley said every governing body of every school in the UK had the power to alter start times if they wish.
What did Professor Paul Kelley suggest to combat a lack-of-sleep crisis?
[解析] 选项都是不定式,推测本题可能问目的、打算或建议。录音开头部分讲到,针对英国青少年缺乏睡眠的问题,Paul Kelley建议将上学时间推迟到早上11点,D“推迟上学时间”是对该处录音内容的概括,是正确答案。A“提早上学时间”与该建议相反。B是Paul Kelley提议推迟上学时间的目的,答非所问。C是录音后半部分提到的有关手机问题的建议,与题目无关。
9.
A.Body clock.
B.Education quality.
C.Mobile device.
D.Life quality.
A B C D
A
[听力原文]
What determines the levels of concentration, wakefulness and work ability?
[解析] 录音中段提到,Paul Kelley的建议是基于对生物钟的深入了解,而生物钟对人类的注意力、清醒程度和工作能力起决定作用,故正确答案为A。B“教育质量”未在录音中出现。睡前玩手机只是会影响生物钟,而非直接决定题目所问的三项机能,故不选C“移动设备”。根据录音,睡眠不足会影响身心健康,也即生活质量受影响,但这跟题目所问无关,故不选D。
10.
A.8-18.
B.10-11.
C.14-24.
D.8-10.
A B C D
C
[听力原文]
Which age group lacks more sleep than others in the British society?
[解析] 选项都是数值范围,听音时注意抓听数字信息。Paul Kelley提到,缺乏睡眠是英国社会的普遍问题,但14至24岁这一年龄层的孩子最缺乏睡眠,故选C。A“8-18岁”是Paul Kelley建议应推迟上课时间的年龄层。B出现在录音中后段,10-11岁是小孩开始使用手机和平板电子设备的年龄。D出现在录音比较靠前的部分,8-10岁是Paul Kelley建议推迟上学时间的其中一个年龄段的人群。
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension
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. Children are natural-born scientists, They have 1 minds, and they aren't afraid to admit they don't know something. Most of them, 2 , lose this as they get older. They become self-conscious and don't want to appear stupid. Instead of finding things out for themselves they make 3 that often turn out to be wrong. So it's not a case of getting kids interested in science. You just have to avoid killing the 4 for learning that they were born with. It's no coincidence that kids start deserting science once it becomes formalised. Children naturally have a blurred approach to 5 knowledge. They see learning about science or biology or cooking as all part of the same act—it's all learning. It's only because of the practicalities of education that you have to start breaking down the curriculum into specialist subjects. You need to have specialist teachers who 6 what they know. Thus once they enter school, children begin to define subjects and erect boundaries that needn't otherwise exist. Dividing subjects into science, maths, English, etc, is something that we do for 7 . In the end it's all learning, but many children today 8 themselves from a scientific education. They think science is for scientists, not for them. Of course we need to specialise 9 . Each of us has only so much time on Earth, so we can't study anything. At 5 years old, our field of knowledge and 10 is broad, covering any-thing from learning to walk to learning to count. Gradually it narrows down so that by the time we are 45, it might be one tiny little comer within science. A. accidentally B. acquiring C. assumptions D. convenience E. eventually F. exclude G. exertion H. exploration I. formulas J. ignite K. impart L. inquiring M. passion N. provoking O. unfortunately
[解析] 空格前为引导定语从句的关系代词who,空格后为名词性从句what they know,故此处应填入定语从句的谓语动词,时态与上下文一致,为一般现在时。定语从句修饰的是specialist teachers“专业老师”,他们向学生“传授”知识,由此可选择impart“告知;赋予”。
7.
D
[解析] 空格在介词for之后,故应填入名词或动名词。上文提到由于教育的实用性(the practicalities of education),我们不得不把课程分成专门的科目来教。因此可知本句所说将科目分为科学、数学、英语等,是为方便教学起见。故convenience“方便”符合语义。
8.
F
[解析] 空格前是句子主语many children,空格后是反身代词themselves,故此处应填入谓语动词,时态与上文并列分句一样,为一般现在时,因此选择范围可缩小至词库中的动词原形。根据后文的not for them选择exclude“排斥”,与空格后的from搭配使用,表示现在很多孩子会排斥科学教育。
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. A. As the world gets warmer, sea levels are rising. It has been happening at a snail's pace so far, but as it speeds up more and more low-lying coastal land will be lost. At risk are many of the world's cities and huge areas of fertile farmland. The sea is set to rise a metre or more by the end of this century. And that's just the start. "Unless there is a rapid and dramatic about-face in emissions—which no one expects—the next century will be far worse than this century," says glaciologist (冰川学家) Bob Bindshadler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland. B. Throwing trillions of dollars at the problem could probably save big cities such as New York and London, but the task of defending all low-lying coastal areas and islands seems hopeless. Or is it? Could we find a way to slow the accelerating glaciers, drain seas into deserts or add more ice to the great ice caps of Greenland and Antarctica? C. These ideas might sound crazy but we have got ourselves into such a bad situation that maybe we should start to consider them. If we carry on as we are, sea levels will rise for millennia, probably by well over 10 metres. Slashing greenhouse gas emissions would slow the rise, but the longer we hesitate, the bigger the rise we will be committed to. Even if "'conventional" geo-engineering schemes for cooling the planet were put in place and worked as planned, they would have little effect on sea level over the next century unless combined with drastic emissions cuts. D. In short, if coastal dwellers don't want their children and grandchildren to have to abandon land to the sea, now is the time to start coming up with Plan C. So New Scientist set out in search of the handful of researchers who have begun to think about specific ways to hold back the waters. E. One of the reasons why the great ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are already shrinking is that the ice is draining off the land faster. Ice floating on the surrounding seas usually acts as a brake, holding back glaciers on land, so as this ice is lost the glaciers flow faster. The acceleration of the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland is thought to be the result of warm currents melting the floating tongue of the glacier. Other outlet glaciers are being attacked in a similar way. F. Mike MacCracken of the Climate Institute in Washington DC is one of those starting to think that we shouldn't just sit back and let warm currents melt ice shelves. "Is there some way of doing something to stop that flow, or cool the water?" he asks. G. Last year, physicist Russel Seitz at Harvard University suggested that the planet could be cooled by using fleets of customised boats to generate large numbers of tiny bubbles. This would whiten the surface of the oceans and so reflect more sunlight. MacCracken says the bubbles might be better arranged in a more focused way, to cool the currents that are undermining the Jakobshavn glacier and others like it. A couple of degrees of chill would take this water down to freezing point, rendering it harmless. "At least that would slow the pace of change," MacCracken says. H. What about a more direct approach: building a physical barrier to halt a glacier's flow into the sea by brute force? Bindshadler thinks that is a non-starter. "The ice discharge has many sources, mostly remote and in environments where barriers are not likely to work," he says. "Taking just the one example I know best, the Pine Island glacier in Antarctica drains into an ice shelf that at its front is 25 kilometres across and 500 metres thick, and moves at over 10 metres per day. The seabed there is 1000 metres down and is made of sediment (深深物) hundreds of metres thick and the consistency of toothpaste." Not your ideal building site. I. A slightly more subtle scheme to rein in the glaciers was proposed more than 20 years ago by Douglas MacAyeal of the University of Chicago. His idea is to fight ice with ice. The big outlet glaciers feed into giant floating shelves of ice, which break off into icebergs at their outer edges. MacAyeal suggested pumping water up from beneath the ice and depositing it on the upper surface, where it would freeze to form a thick ridge, weighing down the floating ice shelf. Add enough ice in this way, and the bottom of the ice shelf would eventually be forced down onto the seabed. Friction with the seabed would slow down the shells movement, which in turn would hold back the glaciers feeding into it. It would be like tightening an immense valve. J. "I think it's quite an inspired idea," says Bindshadler. But nobody has followed it up to work out how practical the scheme would be. "On the back of an envelope it has promise—but these ice shelves are big. You would need a lot of drilling equipment all over the ice shelf, and my intuition is that if you look at the energetics of it, it won't work," Bindshadler says. K. Even if we could apply brakes to glaciers, this would only slow down sea level rise. Could we do better than that and reverse it—actually make the sea retreat? If you think of the sea as a giant bathtub, then the most obvious way to lower its level is to take out the plug. L. "One of the oldest notions is filling depressions on the land," says MacCracken. Among the largest of these is the Qattara depression in northern Egypt, which at its lowest point is more than 130 metres below sea level. Various schemes have been proposed to channel water from the Mediterranean into the depression to generate hydroelectric (水力的) power, and as a by-product a few thousand cubic kilometres of the sea would be drained away. Unfortunately, that's only enough to shave about 3 millimetres off sea level: a drop in the ocean. And there would be grave consequences for the local environment. "The leakage of salt water through fracture systems would add salt to aquifers (含水层) for good," says Farouk El-Baz, a geologist at Boston University who has studied the region. M. Refining the Dead Sea is no better. Because of surrounding hills, this depression could be filled to 60 metres above sea level, but even that would only offset the rise by 5 millimetres—and drown several towns into the bargain. N. The notion of engineering lower sea levels remains a highly abstract topic. "If the world doesn't control emissions, I'm pretty sure that no geo-engineering solution will work—and it would potentially create other side effects and false promises," says MacCracken. "But if we do get on a path to curbing emissions dramatically—down 50 per cent by 2050, say—then the question becomes, can geo-engineering help with the hump we're going to go through over the next few centuries?"
1. Sea levels are rising very slowly at present.
A
[解析] 目前海平面正在非常缓慢地上升。 由Sea levels are rising定位到A段。本题句子结合了原文第1、2句的内容。
2. Building physical barriers to keep glaciers may not be practical.
H
[解析] 建造实体栅栏来保持冰川也许并不可行。 由building physical barriers定位到H段。原文中,Bindshadler用non-starter来比喻这一做法。non-starter在这里指“无望实施的想法”,即使不清楚该词的具体含义,根据其后提到的are not likely to work也对应了本题句子中的may not be practical。
3. Filling depressions can only offset very little rise of sea levels.
4. One of the oldest ways to retreat the sea is to fill depressions on the land.
L
[解析] 最早的使海水退去的方法之一是注满陆地上的洼地。 由one of the oldest和fill depressions on the land定位到L段第1句。MacCracken说,最早的想法是注满陆地上的洼地(depressions),如埃及北部的Qattara盆地,这样可排走几千立方公里海水。
5. The ice floating on the surrounding seas can Stops the glaciers move away.
E
[解析] 海面周围的浮冰能够阻挡冰川移动。 由ice floating on the surrounding seas和glaciers定位到E段。文章提到,海面周围的浮冰如同一个“刹车装置”,能够阻挡冰川流向海洋。可见浮冰能够阻挡冰川移动。
6. Spending trillions of dollars at sea-level rise problem could probably save only a few cities.
B
[解析] 花几万亿美元用于海平面上升的问题也许只能拯救几个城市。 由trillions of dollars和cities定位到B段。文章提到,将大量银子砸在海平面上升的问题上也许能拯救几个大城市,比如纽约和伦敦;但其他沿海城市和海岛似乎没有得救的希望。
7. Someone advised to pump water up from beneath the ice to weigh down the floating ice shelf.
I
[解析] 有人建议将冰底的水抽到冰面上,使浮冰下沉。 由pump water up from beneath the ice和weigh down the floating ice shelf定位到段。原文说的是Douglas MacAyeal的想法。他建议将冰底的水抽到冰面上,形成厚实的冰脊,让浮冰下沉。
8. A physicist's suggestion to cool the planet is to generating tiny bubbles with fleets of customised boats.
G
[解析] 一名物理学家提出的降低地球温度的建议是:通过一种特制船的船队来产生微型气泡。 由physicist,planet和fleets of customised boats定位到G段第1句。哈佛物理学家Russel Seitz建议,通过一种特制船的船队来产生大量的微型气泡可以降低地球温度。
9. The idea of pumping water up from beneath the ice may not work because it consumes too much energy.
J
[解析] 将冰底的水抽到冰面上的想法可能行不通,因为它耗费太多能量。 由may not work和energy定位到J段。该段第1句的idea指的正是上一段的pumping water up from beneath the ice这一想法。Bindshadler认为,若从能量学的角度来看,这根本行不通。本题句子与此对应。 pumping water up from beneath the ice可能误导考生定位到I段。但是I段只是提出了这个设想,还没有讨论它是否行得通,故排除。
10. People once believed that channeling water from the sea into some depression could both generate electricity and drain away some sea water.
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 The pharmaceutical (制药的) giant Bayer has made a remarkable—and lucrative—discovery. Allergies are on the rise. The company's eye and nose ointment Bepanthen, already good for more than $ 200 million in annual sales, could soon be in even higher demand. Bayer mentions this in its annual response to the watchdog CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, which surveys the greenhouse gas emissions of the world's largest corporations. The CDP celebrates companies that cut carbon, of course, but also celebrates brutal honesty, awarding prizes and A rankings to those that give a true and full accounting of how climate change could affect their bottom lines. Bayer is a winner on both counts. Though still high, its emissions are down nearly 40% from 1990 levels. And the company is transparent about what it believes a warming world will bring. One of Bayer's latest products is "a new generation of mosquito net," the LifeNet. It also has two advanced bug sprays in the pipeline. These will be lucrative because mosquitoes and the disease they carry are expected to thrive in a warmer world, leaving another 40 to 60 million people at risk of malaria in Africa alone. "In light of an expected climate-change-related increase of malaria incidents in further regions of the world (e.g., Northern Europe), we expect a growing demand for Bayer mosquito nets," the company writes. Americans often frame climate change as a tragedy of the commons: We all pursue our selfish lives, we all emit, and together we all will someday pay. But this is a dangerous way to understand the future and our responsibilities to it. That some are planning to get rich from the warming world only underscores the reality of climate change: Its impacts, though mostly bad for most people in most places, are deeply uneven. It happens that those largely responsible for the historic emissions that got us here—wealthy North Americans and Europeans—are the most likely to stay relatively prosperous, because we have our northerly geographies and we have enough money in our wallets for, say, high-performance polycarbonate building materials. It happens that those least responsible for historic emissions, the equatorial and the poor, are the most likely to see the worst impacts, likely to get poorer faster. This unevenness suggests that self-interest, however rational, may never be enough to jumpstart real climate action in the wealthy countries where it's most needed. It's hard to scare people into cutting emissions if they're not actually all that scared. There's nothing wrong with selling mosquito nets, and there's nothing wrong with buying them. But there's something wrong if we ignore the true ethical stakes as an ever more imbalanced world keeps lurching ahead, blithely thinking, "At least we're all in this together."
1. What has the pharmaceutical giant Bayer discovered?
A.Its carbon emissions have been cut down dramatically.
B.More than 40 to 60 million people in Africa will have malaria.
C.More and more people will suffer from allergies.
D.The impacts of world warming are apparently uneven.
Passage Two More than 100 years ago, American sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois was concerned that race was being used as a biological explanation for what he understood to be social and cultural differences between different populations of people. He spoke out against the idea of "white" and "black" as distinct groups, claiming that these distinctions ignored the scope of human diversity. Science would favor Du Bois. Today, the mainstream belief among scientists is that race is a social construct without biological meaning. In an article published in the journal Science, four scholars say racial categories need to be phased out. "Essentially, I could not agree more with the authors," said Svante a biologist and director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. In one example that demonstrated genetic differences were not fixed along racial lines, the full genomes (基因组) of James Watson and Craig Venter, two famous American scientists of European ancestry, Were compared to that of a Korean scientist, Seong-Jin Kim. It turned out that Watson and Venter shared fewer variations in their genetic sequences than they each shared with Kim. Michael Yudell, a professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said that modern genetics research is operating in a paradox: on the one hand, race is understood to be a useful tool to illuminate human genetic diversity, but on the other hand, race is also understood to be a poorly defined marker of that diversity. Assumptions about genetic differences between people of different races could be particularly dangerous in a medical setting. "If you make clinical predictions based on somebody's race, you're going to be wrong a good chunk of the time," Yudell told Live Science. In the paper, he and his colleagues used the example of cystic fibrosis, which is underdiagnosed in people of African ancestry because it is thought of as a "white" disease. So what other variables could be used if the racial concept is thrown out? Yudell said scientists need to get more specific with their language, perhaps using terms like "ancestry" or "population" that might more precisely reflect the relationship between humans and their genes, on both the individual and population level. The researchers also acknowledged that there are a few areas where race as a construct might still be useful In scientific research: as a political and social, but not biological, variable. "While we argue phasing out racial terminology (术语) in the biological sciences, we also acknowledge that using race as a political or social category to study racism, although filled with lots of challenges, remains necessary given our need to understand how structural inequities and discrimination produce health disparities (差异) between groups," Yudell said.
1. Du Bois was opposed to the use of race as ______.
A.a basis for explaining human genetic diversity
B.an aid to understanding different populations
C.an explanation for social and cultural differences
D.a term to describe individual human characteristics
2. The study by Svante served as an example to show ______.
A.modern genetics research is likely to fuel racial conflicts
B.race is a poorly defined marker of human genetic diversity
C.race as a biological term can explain human genetic diversity
D.genetics research should consider social and cultural variables
A B C D
B
[解析] 根据题干中的Svante 定位至第3、4段。 本题问将Svante 的研究作为例子想要说明什么。第3段第2句中的同位语从句(that demonstrated genetic differences were not fixed along racial lines)说明了他所举例子的性质。该从句意为从实验中所得出的基因差别并不固定在种族上,言下之意即种族并不是区分基因差别的依据,这点从实验的结果也能得出:两个种族相同的人的相似性,还不如(fewer...than...)其各自与另一种族的人。故确定B项“种族不是基因多样性的明显标记”正确。此外,第4段Yudell教授指出现代遗传研究的第二方面a poorly defined marker of that diversity也复现了B项的关键信息。 本文不涉及基因与种族冲突的关系,故排除A项“现代基因研究有可能会加剧种族冲突”。C项“种族作为生物学术语可以用于解释人类基因多样性”与该例子的结果相反。D项“基因研究应该考虑社会和文化变量”与本文观点矛看:本文通篇强调种族概念适用于政治、社会、文化领域,但不可作为生物学变量,故D项也排除。
3. The example of the disease cystic fibrosis underdiagnosed in people of African ancestry demonstrates that ______.
A.it is absolutely necessary to put race aside in making diagnosis
B.it is important to include social variables in genetics research
C.racial categories for genetic diversity could lead to wrong clinical predictions
D.discrimination against black people may cause negligence in clinical treatment
5. What can be inferred from Yudell's remark in the last paragraph? ______
A.Clinging to racism prolongs inequity and discrimination.
B.Physiological disparities are quite striking among races.
C.Doing away with racial discrimination is challenging.
D.Racial terms are still useful in certain fields of study.
A B C D
D
[解析] 根据题干中的last paragraph直接定位至最后一段。 题目问根据最后一段Yudell教授的言论可作何推断。Yudell教授指出,虽然我们主张在生物科学领域逐步摈弃种族性术语,但也承认种族作为政治或社会学中的类别对研究种族主义的必要性。D项意为“种族的术语在某些研究领域有用”,其中certain fields of study概括了Yudell教授所指出的政治学、社会学领域,故为答案。 Yudell教授的话语未涉及种族主义的后果,故排除A项“坚持种族主义会延长不公平和歧视”。文中提到的是种族之间健康状况的差异,而未提及生理差异,故排除B项“种族间生理差异十分突出”。文章中,Yudell教授说的是,具有挑战性的是承认种族这一概念在研究种族主义上有其必要性,而不是C项“消除种族歧视极具挑战”。
Part Ⅳ Translation 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.
Microblog is a popular means of communication, whose transmission speed is much faster than traditional media. Its emergence makes people's life more convenient and colorful. Through microblog, people can share and communicate with others, make immediate records of their moods as well as get access to information of their interest. However, microblog is a double-edged sword. Besides the benefits it brings to us, it will inevitably cause some unexpected disadvantages. For example, being indulged in microblog over a long time will affect our normal life. Therefore, we should take the right attitude towards microblog and make rational use of it so as to benefit from it.
[解析] 1.获取自己感兴趣的信息:译为get access to information of their interest,“获取”在这里用动词短语get access to表示。
2.沉迷于微博:译为be indulged in microblog。“沉迷于某事”可用动词短语be indulged in sth.、be obsessed with sth.或be addicted to来表达。