Mary and John took a long time in saying good night in order to postpone the ______ of parting.
A jealousy
B relief
C anguish
D appreciation
2.
Most of them had visited the invalid often during the past few months, marveling at his ______ spirit and his unfailing good temper.
A variant
B gallant
C pertinent
D solitary
3.
The major obstacle to the reform in New Orleans, ______, is money.
A as is it across the country
B as it is across the country
C as it were across the country
D as were it across the country
4.
Australia is struggling to cope with the consequences of a devastating drought. As the world warms up, other countries should pay______
A heel
B heal
C heed
D head
5.
As it turned out to be a small house party, we______so formally.
A need not have dressed up
B must not have dressed up
C did not need to dress up
D must not dress up
6.
A considerable amount of time and money has been invested in ______ this system.
A defining
B implying
C reducing
D perfecting
7.
A______, he was probably one of the most realistic writers of his day.
A self-confessing romantic
B self-confessed romance
C self-confessing romance
D self-confessed romantic
8.
Hip replacement surgery is______joint replacement surgery in the U.S..
A the single most frequent
B the most single frequent
C the single frequent
D a single frequent
9.
Not until the 1980"s ______ in Beijing start to find ways to preserve historic buildings from destruction.
A some concerned citizens
B some concerning citizens
C did some concerning citizens
D did some concerned citizens
10.
Going through a tricky divorce would be enough to put anyone off marriage for life. But a new study shows that men are much more likely to ______ a stressful and complicated break-up than women.
A get on
B get off
C get over
D get in
11.
He gave his work to his friend to ______ , because he found it hard to see his own mistakes.
A adjust
B compile
C revise
D verify
12.
Many Fine Art graduates take______professional practice as artists, and this course encourages them to consider their role as artists in the community by providing opportunities for short-term placements outside the Faculty.
A down
B up
C out
D in
13.
Professional archivists and librarians have the resources to duplicate materials in other formats and the expertise to retrieve materials trapped in ______ computers.
A abstract
B obsolete
C obstinate
D obese
14.
Crew chiefs
supervised
engines, switches and lights that told them how each item of equipment was functioning.
A observed
B preserved
C monitored
D nurtured
15.
What ______ about that article in the newspaper was that its writer showed an attitude cool enough, professional enough and, therefore, cruel enough when facing that disaster-stricken family.
A worked me out
B knocked me out
C brought me up
D put me forward
16.
Nearly all trees have seeds that fall to the earth, take root, and eventuall______
A generate new seeds
B new seeds generated
C generates new seeds
D new seeds are generated
17.
With its anti-terrorism campaign taking ______ over anything else, the government is extending its job and running in more affairs.
A superiority
B priority
C majority
D polarity
18.
"Gangnam Style", the ______ popular song from South Korean recording artist PSY has just become the most watched video on YouTube ever.
A sanely
B insanely
C rationally
D insatiably
19.
The school shooting triggered a barrage of transparently irrelevant proposed solutions, tossed out without regard to their relevance to the events that supposedly______the proposals.
A occasioned
B concerned
C illuminated
D ensued
20.
The market for dust masks and air purifiers is ______ in Beijing because the capital has been shrouded for several days in thick fog and haze.
A booming
B looming
C dooming
D zooming
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
waking Up from the American Dream
There has been much talk recently about the phenomenon of "Wal-Martization" of America, which refers to the attempt of America"s giant Wal-Mart chain store company to keep its cost at rock-bottom levels. For years, many American companies have embraced Wal-Mart-like stratagems to control labor costs, such as hiring temps (temporary workers) and part-timers, fighting unions, dismantling internal career ladders and outsourcing to lower paying contractors at home and abroad.
While these tactics have the admirable outcome of holding down consumer prices, they"re costly in other ways. More than a quarter of the labor force, about 34 million workers, is trapped in low-wage, often dead-end jobs. Many middle-income and highs killed employees face fewer opportunities, too, as companies shift work to subcontractors and temps agencies and move white-collar jobs to China and India.
The result has been an erosion of one of America"s most cherished value: giving its people the ability to move up the economic ladder over their lifetimes. Historically, most Americans, even lows killed ones, were able to find poorly paid janitorial or factory jobs, then gradually climbed into the middle class as they gained experience and moved up the wage curve. But the number of workers progressing upward began to slip in 1970s. Upward mobility diminished even more in the 1980s as globalization and technology slammed blue-collar wages.
Restoring American mobility is less a question of knowing what to do than of making it happen. Experts have decried schools" inadequacy for years, but fixing them is a long, arduous struggle. Similarly, there have been plenty of warnings about declining college access, but finding funds was difficult even in eras of large surpluses.
1.
The American dream in this passage mainly refers to ______.
A there are always possibilities offered to people to develop themselves in the society
B Americans can always move up the pay ladder
C American young people can have access to college, even they are poor
D the labor force is not trapped in low-wage and dead-end jobs
2.
Wal-Mart strategy, according to this passage, is to ______.
A hire temps and part-timers to reduce its cost
B outsource its contracts to lower price agencies at home and abroad
C hold down its consumer price by controlling its labor costs
D dismantle the career ladder and stop people"s mobility upward
3.
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A Wal-Martization has been successful in keeping costs at rock-bottom levels
B Upward mobility for low-skilled workers has become impossible in the U
C More business opportunities are given to low-cost agencies in China and India
D Although people know how to restore American mobility, it"s difficult to change the present situation
Why does storytelling endure across time and cultures? Perhaps the answer lies in our evolutionary roots. A study of the way that people respond to Victorian literature hints that novels act as a social glue, reinforcing the types of behaviour that benefit society.
Literature "could continually condition society so that we fight against base impulses and work in a cooperative way", says Jonathan Gottschall of Washington and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. He and co-author Joseph Carroll at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, study how Darwin"s theories of evolution apply to literature. Along with John Johnson, an evolutionary psychologist at Pennsylvania State University in DuBois, the researchers asked 500 people to fill in a questionnaire about 200 classic Victorian novels. The respondents were asked to define characters as protagonists or antagonists and then to describe their personality and motives, such as whether they were conscientious or power hungry.
The team found that the characters fell into groups that mirrored the egalitarian dynamics of a society in which individual dominance is suppressed for the greater good (Evolutionary Psychology. vol 4, p 716). Protagonists, such as Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen"s Pride and Prejudice, for example, scored highly on conscientiousness and nurturing, while antagonists like Bram Stoker"s Count Dracula scored highly on status-seeking and social dominance. In the novels, dominant behaviour is "powerfully stigmatized", says Gottschall "Bad guys and girls are just dominance machines; they are obsessed with getting ahead, they rarely have pro-social behaviours."
While few in today"s world live in hunter-gatherer societies, "the political dynamic at work in these novels, the basic opposition between communitarianism and dominance behaviour, is a universal theme", says Carroll. Christopher Boehm, a cultural anthropologist whose work Carroll acknowledges was an important influence on the study, agrees. "Modem democracies, with their formal checks and balances, are carrying forward an egalitarian ideal".
A few characters were judged to be both good and bad, such as Heathcliff in Emily Bronte"s Wuthering Heights or Austen"s Mr.Darcy. "They reveal the pressure being exercised on maintaining the total social order," says Carroll.
Boehm and Carroll believe novels have the same effect as the cautionary tales told in older societies. "Novels have a function that continues to contribute to the quality and structure of group life," says Boehm. "Maybe storytelling--from TV to folk tales- actually serves some specific evolutionary adaptation," says Gottschall. They"re not just products of evolutionary adaptation.
4.
According to the study mentioned in the passage, which one of the following best defines the function of literature in human society?
A It helps with the evolutionary progress
B It helps advocate people"s base impulse and conscientiousness
C It reinforces the types of behavior the benefit a cooperative society
D It suppresses base impulses and sets regulations for society
5.
What were the respondents in the research asked to do ?
A To identify protagonists and antagonists in some novels and describe them
B To group characters in novels who mirror the egalitarian dynamic of a society
C To give scores to literary character in regard to social dominance
D To tell the bad guys from the good ones in some novels
6.
What is said about the bad guys and girls in novels?
A They are protagonists that are powerfully stigmatized
B They are always afraid of getting ahead of others
C They rarely have behaviors that protect the society
D They always seek dominant status in society
7.
In the political dynamic of literature, to what is dominant behavior set opposed ?
A The universal theme of power
B The egalitarian ideal
C Modern democracies
D Formal checks and balances of a traditional society
The early retirement of experienced workers is seriously harming the US economy, according to a new report from the Hudson Institute, a public policy research organization. Currently, many older experienced workers retire at an early age. According to the recently issued statistics, 79 percent of qualified workers begin collecting retirement benefits at age 62; if that trend continues, there will be a labor shortage that will hinder the economic growth in the twenty-first century.
Older Americans constitute an increasing proportion of the population, according to the US Census Bureau, and the population of those over age 65 will grow by 60% between 2001 and 2020. During the same period, the group aged 18 to 44 will increase by only 4%. Keeping older skilled workers employed, even part time, would increase US economic output and strengthen the tax base; but without significant policy reforms, massive early retirement among baby boomers seems more likely.
Retirement at age 62 is an economically rational decision today. Social Security and Medicaid earnings limits and tax penalties subject our most experienced workers to marginal tax rates as high as 67%. Social Security formulas encourage early retirement. Although incomes usually rise with additional years of work, any pay increases after the 35-year mark result in higher social Security taxes but only small increases in benefits.
Hudson Institute researchers believe that federal tax and benefit policies are at fault and reforms are urgently needed, but they disagree with the popular proposal that much older Americans will have to work because Social Security will not support them and that baby boomers are not saving enough for retirement. According to the increase in 401 (k) and Keogh retirement plans, the ongoing stock market on Wall Street, and the likelihood of large inheritances, there is evidence that baby boomers will reach age 65 with greater financial assets than previous generations.
The Hudson institute advocates reforming government policies that now discourage work and savings, especially for older worker. Among the report"s recommendations: Tax half of all Social Security benefits. regardless of other income; provide 8% larger benefits for each year beyond 65; and permit workers nearing retirement to negotiate compensation packages that may include a lower salary but with greater healthcare benefits. However, it may take real and fruitful planning to find the right solution to the early retirement of older experienced workers; any measures taken must be allowed to prolong the serviceability of older experienced workers.
8.
According to Hudson Institute researchers, the effect of the early retirement of qualified workers in the U. S. economy is ______
A constructive
B significant
C inconclusive
D detrimental
9.
The older experienced workers in America tend to retire early because their prolonged service may ______
A do harm to younger generations
B end up with few or no benefits
C give play to their potentials
D shed light on social trends
10.
The second paragraph is written chiefly to show that ______
A there will be an acute labor shortage in the near future
B baby-boomers contribute much to the US economic output
C government policies concerning older people are out-dated
D alder workers are enthusiastic about collecting social benefits
Today, a high-level finance manager is just as likely to be a casual-looking 21-year-old as a balding executive. They have all either started their own companies or head a division within an existing firm. Most are under 30.
Many of them share a tendency to think, speak and act fast. A detailed psychological study carried out recently on young business start-uppers aged over 25 revealed some common characteristics.
The head psychologist at the University of Northumbria, Dr. Martyn Dyer-Smith, says "We found that they are opportunists. They have that entrepreneurial ability to take whatever is in front of them and turn it to their advantage. Any fool can make US $ 2 if they are in the right place at the right time, what is much harder is to actually plan their business. Originally I had a hypothesis that they planned a long time ahead, but I was wrong. What came across was a surprisingly short planning time. They took the opportunities as and when they came up."
What cannot be underestimated, though, is self-confidence.
"There is an amazing, almost abnormal, belief in themselves and (they) go very much on intuition." Says Dyer-Smith.
While there is no typical pattern to what puts someone in the fast lane, there are some common threads: living up to the expectations of parents, channeling excessive amounts of energy into business, or finding a way to overcome personal barriers such as dyslexia (a reading disability) or learning difficulties, for example.
The biggest surprise was the lack of young women. This was particularly unexpected, given the recent publicity about how girls are performing better than boys at school and becoming more confident and ambitious.
But young women are opting for more secure careers rather than gambling with their future. With only a handful of female role models, some girls are not even considering being their own boss, let alone working on a concept fresh out of school, according to Dr Susan Vinnicombe, director of the center for the Development of Women Business Leader. "Women are going more into the corporate structure and doing well there. But perhaps the reason that they are not doing business for themselves at an earlier age is because women"s attitudes are different. They perceive risk in a different way to men, who are not worried about borrowing huge amounts of money if it"s going to help their business in the long term. Women are more cautious and more hesitant ," she says.
Vinnicombe sees the lack of female entrepreneurs as part of a larger problem about women and the IT industry. Given that the computer world is one of the key areas for growth, where youth is an asset, it is "remarkable" that so many women are missing out on it.
"The number of women in IT has actually dropped in the past 10 years. There is a real problem with attracting them to the IT industry, as girls don"t seem to want to do it at university. It"s become such a worrying issue that I know the government is looking into ways to attract them."
11.
Which of the following does not account for the success of the young businessmen?
A They never hesitate to take full advantage of the approaching opportunities
B They have a strong confidence in their own abilities
C They often base their work on long-term planning
D They deal well with their personal advantages
12.
What is the passage mainly about?
A Lack of young managers all over the world
B Features of high-level finance managers
C Origins of the decline in female-dominated industry
D Aims of a young woman fresh out of school
13.
What is suggested as a reason for the shortage of business women?
A Girls do not perform so well as boys at school
B Most companies are reluctant to employ women
C Banks often refuse to give women large loans
D Women are very worried about the risk-taking in their careers
14.
From the text we can learn that ______.
A some managers are very young but already have their own business
B some managers are as casual and irresponsible as energetic young people
C the government is concerned about the lack of women in such a field as IT
D IT remains a minor area for growth
15.
The passage shows that the author is ______ the present situation.
A critical of
B amazed at
C disappointed at
D puzzled by
Part Ⅲ Cloze
Seventeen-year-old Quantae Williams doesn"t understand why the U. S. Supreme Court struck down his school district"s racial diversity program. He now
1
the prospect of leaving his mixed-race high school in suburban Louisville and
2
to the poor black downtown schools where he
3
in fights. "I"m doing
4
in town. They should just leave it the
5
it is," said Williams, using a fond nickname for suburban Jeffersontown High School,
6
he"s bused every day from his downtown neighborhood. "Everything is
7
, we get along well. If I go where all my friends go, I"ll start getting in trouble again," Williams said as he took a
8
from his summer job
9
clothing
10
for poor families.
Last month"s 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court struck down programs that were started voluntarily in Louisville and Seattle. The court"s decision has left schools
11
the country
12
to find a way to protect
13
in their classrooms. Critics have called the decision the biggest
14
to the ideals of the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education
15
, which outlawed racial segregation in U. S. public schools. With students already
16
to schools for the
17
year that begins in September,
18
will be immediately affected by the Supreme Court decision. In Jefferson County, officials said it could be two years
19
a new plan is
20
place, leaving most students in their current schools.
1.
A aspires to
B dreads
C is hostile to
D disdains
2.
A maintaining
B transmitting
C reimbursing
D returning
3.
A used to get
B is used to get
C is used to getting
D use to get
4.
A well
B better
C good
D best
5.
A method
B way
C procedure
D manner
6.
A where
B to where
C for which
D which
7.
A linked
B segregated
C equal
D mixed
8.
A rest
B break
C resurgence
D recreation
9.
A picking
B sorting
C selecting
D separating
10.
A forfeit
B booty
C donation
D present
11.
A over
B across
C amid
D along
12.
A falsifying
B purchasing
C scampering
D scrambling
13.
A sanctity
B complication
C genuineness
D diversity
14.
A concession
B countenance
C threat
D adherence
15.
A condition
B case
C claim
D example
16.
A looted
B assigned
C prodded
D occupied
17.
A academic
B scholarly
C educational
D pedagogical
18.
A few
B many
C a few
D everyone
19.
A after
B before
C since
D because
20.
A in
B on
C out of
D into
Part Ⅳ Proofreading
(59)
Three executives were convicted Wednesday of violating Italian privacy laws in a ruling that the company denounced as an "astonishing" attack at freedom of expression on the Internet.
(60)
The case involves online videos showing an autistic boy being bullied with byclassmates in Turin,
which were posted in 2006 on Video, an online video-sharing service that the company ran before its acquisition of YouTube.
(61)
Prosecutors charred that the videos violated Italian personal private protections.
(62)
They said the clips were removing only after complaints from Vivi Down, an Italian organization representing people with Down syndrome.
whose name was mentioned in the videos.
(63)
"We are definitely satisfied that someone has to take responsibility for this violating of privacy,"
said Guido Camera, a lawyer for Vivi Down.
(64)
The company said it planed to appeal, warned that the verdicts raised serious questions about the viability of user-generated content platforms like YouTube in Italy
and potentially elsewhere in Europe.
(65)
"If company employee like me can be held criminally liable for any video on a hosting platform,
(66)
when they had absolute nothing to do with the video in question, (67)then our liability is limited," said one of the three executives, Peter Fleischer, the company"s chief privacy counsel.
(68)
"The decision today therefore raises broader questions as the continued operation of many lnternet platforms that are the essential foundations of freedom of expression in the digitalage,"
he said in a statement.
Video-sharing services like Video and YouTube generally rely on users to notify them of potentially problematic content, which is then taken down if it violates the terms of service.