2013：Section I U of English
Directions: Read the following text. Choo the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
Given the advantages of electronic money, you might think that we would move quickly to the cashless society in which all payments are made electronically. ___1___, a true cashless society is probably not around the corner. Indeed, predictions of such a society have been ___2___ for two decades but have not yet come to fruition. For example, Business Week predicted in 1975 that electronic means of payment “would soon revolutionize the very ___3___ of money itlf,” only to ___4___ itlf veral years later. Why has the movement to a cashless society been so ___5___ in coming?
Although e-money might be more convenient and may be more efficient than a payments system bad on paper, veral factors work __6___ the disappearance of the paper system. First, it is very ___7___ to t up the computer, card reader, and telecommunications networks necessary to make electronic money the ___8___ form of payment. Second, paper checks have the advantage that they ___9___ receipts, somethi
ng that many consumers are unwilling to ___10___. Third, the u of paper checks gives consumers veral days of "float"-it takes veral days ___11___ a check is cashed and funds are ___12___ from the issuer’s account, which means that the writer of the check can earn interest on the funds in the meantime. ___13___ electronic payments are immediate, they eliminate the float for the consumer. Fourth, electronic means of payment ___14___ curity and privacy concerns. We often hear media reports that an unauthorized hacker has been able to access a computer databa and to alter information ___15___ there.
Becau this is not an ___16___ occurrence, unscrupulous persons might be able to access bank accounts in electronic payments systems and ___17___ funds by moving them from someone el’s accounts into their own. The ___18___ of this type of fraud is no easy task, and a whole new field of computer science has developed to ___19___ curity issues. A further concern is that the u of electronic means of payment leaves an electronic ___20___ that contains a large amount of personal data on buying habits. There are worries that government, employers, and marketers might be able to access th
e data, thereby encroaching on our privacy.
1. [A] However [B] Moreover [C] Therefore [D] Otherwi
2. [A] off [B] back [C] over [D] around
3. [A] power [B] concept [C] history [D] role
4. [A] reward [B] resist [C] resume [D] rever
5. [A] silent [B] sudden [C] slow [D] steady
6. [A] for [B] against [C]with [D] on
7. [A] imaginative [B] expensive [C] nsitive [D] productive
8. [A] similar [B] original [C] temporary [D] dominant
9. [A] collect [B] provide [C] copy [D] print
10. [A] give up [B] take over [C] bring back [D] pass down
11. [A] before [B] after [C] since [D] when
12. [A] kept [B] borrowed [C] relead [D] withdrawn
13. [A] Unless [B] Until [C] Becau [D] Though
14. [A] hide [B] express [C] rai [D]ea
15. [A] analyzed [B] shared [C] stored [D] displayed
16. [A] unsafe [B] unnatural [C] uncommon [D] unclear
17. [A] steal [B] choo [C] benefit [D] return
18. [A] consideration [B] prevention [C] manipulation [D] justi.fication
19. [A] cope with [B] fight against [C] adapt to [D] call for
20. [A] chunk [B] chip [C] path [D] trail
Part A
Text 1
In an essay entitled “Making It in America”, the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill only two employees today,” a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.”
Davidson’s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and declining mid
dle-class incomes today is also becau of the advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign worker.
In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job，could earn an average li.festyle ,But ,today ,average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it ud to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra-their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment.
Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. But there’s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes,” In the 10 years ending in 2009, [U.S.] factories shed workers so fast that they erad almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs-about 6 million in total -disappeared.
There will always be changed-new jobs, new products, new rvices. But the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I.T. revolution, the be
st jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themlves above average.
In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to support employment, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I.Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to poet-high school education.
21. The joke in Paragraph 1 is ud to illustrate_______
[A] the impact of technological advances
[B] the alleviation of job pressure
[C] the shrinkage of textile mills
升国旗[D] the decline of middle-class incomes
22. According to Paragraph 3, to be a successful employee, one has to______
[A] work on cheap software
[B] ask for a moderate salary
[C] adopt an average li.festyle
[D] contribute something unique
23. The quotation in Paragraph 4 explains that ______
[A] gains of technology have been erad
[B] job opportunities are disappearing at a high speed
[C] factories are making much less money than before
[D] new jobs and rvices have been offered
24. According to the author, to reduce unemployment, the most important is_____
[A] to accelerate the I.T. revolution
[B] to ensure more education for people
[C] ro advance economic globalization
[D] to pass more bills in the 21st century
25. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the text?
[A] New Law Takes Effect
[B] Technology Goes Cheap
[C] Average Is Over
[D] Recession Is Bad
Text 2
A century ago, the immigrants from across the Atlantic inclued ttlers and sojourners. Along with the many folks looking to make a permanent home in the United States came tho who had no intention to stay, and 7millin people arrived while about 2 million departed. About a quarter of all Italian immigrants, for exanmle, eventually returned to Italy for good. They even had an affectionate nickname, “uccelli di passaggio,” birds of passage.
Today, we are much more rigid about immigrants. We divide nemcomers into two categories: legal or illegal, good or bad. We hail them as Americans in the making, or our broken immigrantion system and the long political paralysis over how to fix it. We don’t need more categories, but we need to change the way we think about categories. We need to look beyond strick definitions of legal and illegal. To start, we can recognize the new birds of passage, tho living and thriving in the gray areas. We might then begin to solve our immigration challenges.
Crop pickers, violinists, construction workers, entrepreneurs, engineers, home health-c
are aides and physicists are among today’s birds of passage. They are energetic participants in a global economy driven by the flow of work, money and ideas .They prefer to come and go as opportunity calls them , They can manage to have a job in one place and a family in another.
With or without permission, they straddle laws, jurisdictions and identities with ea. We need them to imagine the United States as a place where they can be productive for a while without committing themlves to staying forever. We need them to feel that home can be both here and there and that they can belong to two nations honorably.
Accommodating this new world of people in motion will require new attitudes on both sides of the immigration battle .Looking beyond the culture war logic of right or wrong means opening up the middle ground and understanding that managing immigration today requires multiple paths and multiple outcomes. Including some that are not easy to accomplish legally in the existing system.
26 “Birds of passage” refers to tho who____
[A] immigrate across the Atlantic.
[B] leave their home countries for good.
[C] stay in a foregin temporaily.
[D] find permanent jobs overas.
27 It is implied in paragraph 2 that the current immigration stystem in the US____
[A] needs new immigrant categories.
[B] has looned control over immigrants.
[C] should be adopted to meet challenges.
[D] has been fixeed via political means.
28 According to the author, today’s birds of passage want___
[A] fiancial incentives.
[B] a global recognition.
[C] opportunities to get regular jobs.
[D] the freedom to stay and leave.
29 The author suggests that the birds of passage today should be treated __
[A] as faithful partners.
操吊
[B] with economic favors.
[C] with legal tolerance.
[D] as mighty rivals.
30 which of the best title for the passage?
[A] come and go: big mistake.
鲍君[B] living and thriving : great risk.
[C] with or without : great risk.
[D] legal or illegal: big mistake
Text 3
Scientists have found that although we are prone to snap overreactions, i.f we take a moment and think about how we are likely to react, we can reduce or even eliminate the negative effects of our quick, hard-wired respons.
Snap decisions can be important defen mechanisms; i.f we are judging whether someone is dangerous, our brains and bodies are hard-wired to react very quickly, within milliconds. But we need more time to asss other factors. To accurately tell whether s
omeone is sociable, studies show, we need at least a minute, preferably five. It takes a while to judge complex aspects of personality, like neuroticism or open-mindedness.
But snap decisions in reaction to rapid stimuli aren’t exclusive to the interpersonal realm. Psychologists at the University of Toronto found that viewing a fast-food logo for just a few milliconds primes us to read 20 percent faster, even though reading has little to do with eating. We unconsciously associate fast food with speed and impatience and carry tho impuls into whatever el we’re doing, Subjects expod to fast-food flashes also tend to think a musical piece lasts too long.
Yet we can rever such influences. i.f we know we will overreact to consumer products or housing options when we e a happy face (one reason good sales reprentatives and real estate agents are always smiling), we can take a moment before buying. i.f we know female job screeners are more likely to reject attractive female applicants, we can help screeners understand their bias-or hire outside screeners.
John Gottman, the marriage expert, explains that we quickly “thin slice” information reliably only after we ground such snap reactions in “thick sliced” long-term study. When
Dr. Gottman really wants to asss whether a couple will stay together, he invites them to his island retreat for a muck longer evaluation; two days, not two conds.
Our ability to mute our hard-wired reactions by pausing is what di.fferentiates us from animals: doge can think about the future only intermittently or for a few minutes. But historically we have spent about 12 percent of our days contemplating the longer term. Although technology might change the way we react, it hasn’t changed our nature. We still have the imaginative capacity to ri above temptation and rever the high-speed trend.
31. The time needed in making decisions may____.
[A] vary according to the urgency of the situation
[B] prove the complexity of our brain reaction
[C] depend on the importance of the asssment
[D] predetermine the accuracy of our judgment
32. Our reaction to a fast-food logo shows that snao decisions____.
[A] can be associative
[B] are not unconscious
[C] can be dangerous
[D] are not impulsive
33. Torever the negative influences of snap decisions,we should____.
[A] trust our first impression
[B] do as people usually do
[C] think before we act
[D] ask for expert advice
34. John Gottman says that reliable snap reaction are bad on____.
[A] critical asssment
[B]‘‘thin sliced ’’study
[C] nsible explanation
[D] adequate information
35. The author’s attitude toward reversing the high-speed trend is____.
[A] tolerant
[B] uncertain
[C] optimistic
[D] doubtful
Text4
Europe is not a gender-equality heaven.In particular, the corporate workplace will never be completely family—friendly until women are part of nior management decisions,and Europe,s top corporate-governance positions remain overwhelmingly male .indeed,women hold only 14 percent of positions on Europe corporate boards.
The Europe Union is now considering legislation to compel corporate boards to maintain a certain proportion of women-up to 60 percent.This propod mandate was born of frustration. Last year, Europe Commission Vice President Viviane Reding issued a call to voluntary action. Reding invited corporations to sign up for gender balance goal of 40 percent female board membership. But her appeal was considered a failure: only 24 companies took it up.
Do we need quotas to ensure that women can continue to climb the corporate Ladder fa
iry as they balance work and family?
“Personally, I don’t like quotas,” Reding said recently. “But i like what the quotas do.” Quotas get action: they “open the way to equality and they break through the glass ceiling,”according to Reding, a result en in France and other countries with legally binding provisions on placing women in top business positions.
I understand Reding’s reluctance-and her frustration. I don’t like quotas either; they run counter to my belief in meritocracy, government by the capable. But, when one considers the obstacles to achieving the meritocratic ideal, it does look as i.f a fairer world must be temporarily ordered.
After all, four decades of evidence has now shown that corporations in Europe as the US are evading the meritocratic hiring and promotion of women to top position— no matter how much “soft pressure ” is put upon them. When women do break through to the summit of corporate power--as, for example, Sheryl Sandberg recently did at Facebook—they attract massive attention precily becau they remain the exception to the rule.
六级报名入口 i.f appropriate pubic policies were in place to help all women---whether CEOs or their children’s caregivers--and all families, Sandberg would be no more newsworthy than any other highly capable person living in a more just society.
36. In the European corporate workplace, generally_____. 初起
[A] women take the lead
[B] men have the final say
[C] corporate governance is overwhelmed
[D] nior management is family-friendly
37. The European Union’s intended legislation is ________.
[A] a reflection of gender balance
[B] a reluctant choice
[C] a respon to Reding’s call
[D] a voluntary action
38. According ti Reding, quotas may help women ______.
[A] get top business positions
[B] e through the glass ceiling
[C] balance work and family
[D] anticipate legal results
39. The author’s attitude toward Reding’s appeal is one of _________.
[A] skepticism
[B] objectiveness
[C] indi.fference
[D] approval
40. Women entering top management become headlines due to the lack of ______.
[A] more social justice
梦到自己生了孩子 [B] massive media attention
[C] suitable public policies
[D] greater “soft pressure”
Part B
[A] Live like a peasant
[B] Balance your diet
[C] Shopkeepers are your friends
[D] Remember to treat yourlf
[E] Stick to what you need
[F] Planning is evervthing
[G] Waste not, want not
The hugely popular blog the Skint Foodie chronicles how Tony balances his love of good food with living on benefits. After bills, Tony has £60 a week to spend, £40 of which goes on food, but 10 years ago he was earning £130,000 a I year working in corporate communications and eating at London’s betft restaurants’" at least twice a week. Then his marriage failed, his career burned out and his drinking became rious. "The community mental health team saved my li.fe. And I felt like that again, to a certain degree, when people responded to the blog so well. It gave me the validation and confidence that I’d lost. But it’s still a day-by-day thing." Now he’s living in a council flat and fielding offers from literary agents. He’s feeling positive, but he’ll carry on blogging - not about eating as
cheaply as you can - "there are so many people in a much wor state, with barely any money to spend on food" - but eating well on a budget. Here’s his advice for economical foodies.
41._____________________
Impulsive spending isn’t an option, so plan your week’s menu in advance, making shopping lists for your ingredients in their exact quantities. I have an Excel template for a week of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Stop laughing: it’s not just cost effective but helps you balance your diet. It’s also a good idea to shop daily instead of weekly, becau, being-human, you’ll sometimes change your mind about what you fancy.
42____________________________________________________________
This is where supermarkets and thci; anonymity come in handy. With them, there’s not the same embarrassment as when buying one carrot in a little greengrocer. And i.f you plan properly, you’ll know that you only need, say, 350g
of shin of beef and six rashers of bacon, not whatever weight is pre-packed in the supermarket chiller.
43_________
You may proudly claim to only have frozen peas in the freezer - that’s not good enough. Mine is filled with leftovers, bread, stock, meat and fish. Planning ahead should eliminate wastage, but i.f you have surplus vegetables you’ll do a vegetable soup, and all fruits threatening to "go off’ will be cooked or juiced.
44___________________________________
Everyone says this, but it really is a top tip for frugal eaters. Shop at butchers, delis and fish-llers regularly, even for small things, and be super friendly. Soon you’ll feel comfortable asking i.f they’ve any knuckles of ham for soups and stews, or beef bones, chicken carcass and fish heads for stock which, more often than not, Theyil let you have for free.
45__________________
晴空朗朗You won’t be eating out a lot, but save your pennies and once every few months treat yourlf to a t lunch at a good restaurant - £1.75 a week for three months gives you £21 - more than" enough for a three-cour lunch at
兔子外貌描写Michelin-starred Arbutus. It’s £16.95 there - or £12.99 for a large pizza from Domino’s: I know which I’d rather eat.
