56. To have a holiday in a delightful hideaway cottage, you should contact Mrs S Edwards. 57. In the Criccieth Five Star Hotel, free tennis, game fishing, riding and golf are available. 58. Short breaks are available out of season in the Llyn Peninsula.
Questions 59 to 60: Answer the following questions briefly according to the advertisements. 59. If you plan to have a holiday with your children, what is the best place? 60. What will you enjoy most in Bron Afon Self Catering?
Section B (10 marks)
The giant panda, the creature that has become a symbol of conservation, is facing extinction. The major reason is loss of habitat, which has continued despite the establishment of 14 panda reserves. Deforestation, mainly carried out by farmers clearing land to make way for fields as they move higher into the mountains, has drastically contracted the mammal’s range. The panda has disappeared from much of central and eastern China, and is now restricted to the eastern flank of the Himalayas.
Satellite imagery has shown the seriousness of the situation; almost half of the panda’s habitat has been cut down or degraded since 1975. Worse, the surviving panda population has also become fragmented; a combination of satellite imagery and ground surveys reveals panda “island” in patches of forest separated by cleared land. The population of these islands has become isolated become the animals are loath to cross open areas. Just putting a road through panda habitat may be enough to split a population in two.
The minuscule size of the panda populations worries conservationists. The smallest groups have too few animals to be viable, and will inevitable die out. The larger populations may be viable in the short term, but will be susceptible to genetic defects as a result of inbreeding.
In these circumstances, a more traditional threat to pandas – the cycle of flowering and subsequent withering of the bamboo that is their staple food – can become literally species-threatening. The flowering prompts pandas to move from one area to another, thus preventing inbreeding in otherwise sedentary populations. In panda islands, however, bamboo flowering could prove catastrophic (灾难性的) because the pandas are unable to emigrate.
The latest conservation management plan for the panda, prepared by China’s Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature, aims primarily at maintaining panda habitat and ensuring that populations are linked wherever possible. This plan will change some existing reserve boundaries, establish 14 new reserves and protect or replant corridors of forest between panda islands. Other measures include better control of poaching, reducing the degradation of habitats outside reserves, and reforestation.
The plan is ambitious. Implementation will be expensive and will require participation by individuals ranging from villagers to government officials.
Questions 61 to 65: Complete the summary with words from the passage, changing the form where necessary, only one word for each blank.
The survival of the giant panda is being seriously (61) ＿＿＿＿. This is largely because the overall size of their habitat has been reduced. As a result, pandas are more prone to problems and are unable to (62) ＿＿＿＿ around freely, following the growth cycles of (63) ＿＿＿＿ plant. A new plan aims to protect existing panda (64) ＿＿＿＿ and to join some of them together. This plan also involves reforestation and the creation of new reserves. To succeed, everyone, (65) ＿＿＿＿ both the government and individuals, will have to cooperate.
Section C (10 marks)
Honda has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person’s scalp as well
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as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements – moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating.
67 In a video shown at Tokyo headquarters, a person wearing a helmet sat still but thought about moving his right hand – a thought that was picked up by electrodes attached to his head inside the helmet.
68 Honda said the technology wasn’t quite ready for a live demonstration because of possible distractions in the person’s thinking.
Another problem is that brain patterns differ greatly among individuals, and so about two to three hours of studying them in advance are needed for the technology to work. The company, a leader in robotics, acknowledged the technology was still at a basic research stage, with no immediate practical applications in the works.
69 Japan boasts one of the leading robotics industries in the world, and the government is pushing to develop the industry as a road to growth. Research on the brain in being tackled around the world, but Honda said its research was among the most advanced in figuring out ways to read brain patterns without having to hurt the person, such as embedding (植物人) sensors into the walking, talking about robot in TV ads.
70 “Our products are for people to use. It is important for us to understand human behaviour,” he said. “We think this is the ultimate in making a machine move.” Question 66: Choose the best answer according to the passage. 66. What does Honda say about its robot Asimo?
A. It can detect a person’s way of thinking. B. It can imitate complex human movements. C. It is still in its experimental stage.
D. It is ready for market distribution. Questions 67 to 70: Choose the most appropriate of the following paragraphs that fit into questions 67 to 70 in the passage.
A. “I’m taking about dreams today,” said Yasuhisa Arai, executive at the Honda Research Institute in Japan, the company’s research unit. “Practical uses are still way into the future.”
B. Among the challenges for this brain technology is making the reading-device so it can be
portable, according to Honda. C. After several seconds, Asimo, programmed to respond to these brain signals, lifted its right arm. D. Honda succeeded in analysing these thought patterns, and then relayed them as wireless commands
to Asimo, its human-shaped robot.
Section D (10 marks)
Being an introvert is a bad thing, right? Well, a lot of people seem to think so, judging by
the number of articles I’ve read about how to “cure” introversion. In response to these articles, I wrote The Introverts Strike Back, in which I argued that introverts can’t become extraverts, and they shouldn’t particularly want to.
However, I’m not here to debate whether it’s better to be an introvert or an extravert.
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The fact is, we all have to interact with both types of people every day. Regardless of which type you are, you can greatly improve your relationships by learning to get along better with people of the other type. Here are some tips for getting started. For Introverts:
﹡ Indicate to others when you’re busy.
When an extravert sees you reading, writing, or maybe just thinking, he might assume that
the only reason you are doing this is because you don’t have someone to talk to. So he thinks he’s doing you a favour by striking up a conversation, when he’s actually interrupting. To prevent this, be sure to give an indication that you’re in the middle of something
and don’t want to socialise right now. This can be a visual sign or verbal. I know one person who tended to get a lot of visitors at work, and while he was actually
an extravert, the frequent visits were slowing him down too much. He put a sign on his door
saying “If I don’t make eye contact or respond to you, I apologize. I’m not trying to be rude, I just have a lot of work to do. Thank you for understanding.” While I don’t think many people need to go that far, it certainly worked!
﹡ Realise that extraverts often need to talk. Because extraverts are more in touch with the external world, for them talking is sometimes
as necessary as breathing. They might think out loud by bouncing their thoughts off other
people, and they might need to chat in order to boost their energy.
For an introvert, this can be the most difficult part of dealing with an extravert. The
same conversation that energises the extravert also drains the introvert. However, keeping in mind that the extravert is not being intentionally malicious, the introvert has at least two options foe handling this in a polite way. They can patiently participate in the conversation, and then, when it’s over, recharge by being alone. Or they can cut off the conversation early by mentioning something else they need to be doing, or even by saying, “I’d like to help, but I’m not sure that I’m the right person for you to be talking to.” Of course, sometimes a conversation can be very enjoyable for an introvert, in which case
this isn’t a problem. For Extraverts:
﹡Ask if someone is busy before spending time with them.
If someone appears to be lonely, they might not be. Even if they’re sitting there and
don’t seem to be doing anything, they could be deep in thought and not want to be interrupted. If you need something, try to ask for it up front. Otherwise, look for clues that they might not feel like talking right now, such as lack of eye contact.
If they seem uninterested, don’t take it personally. You just don’t know what you’re interrupting.
﹡ Understand what a draining effect a conversation can have on someone.
No matter how fabulous a person you are, keep in mind that introverts simply prefer their
internal world to the external world. They might start off with a fully charged battery, but while they’re engaged in conversation, that battery is steadily draining. How long it lasts depends on various factors, but be sure to keep an eye out for when they’re starting to be lose interest. Be more to the point with introverts, and save most of your chatting for extraverts who will appreciate it more. Questions 71 to 74: Complete each of the following sentences with NOMORE THAN FIVE WOEDS according to the passage.
71. Introverts are advised to ＿＿＿＿ to prevent interrupting when they are in the middle of
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something.
72. For extraverts, having a conversation with people can be as important as ＿＿＿＿. 73. An important clue that someone might not feel like talking with you right now is ＿＿＿
＿. 74. It is necessary to remember that introverts tend to focus more on ＿＿＿＿. Question 75: Choose the best answer according to the passage. 75. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Whether it is better to be an introvert or an extravert. B. How to get along with both introverts and extraverts. C. How to avoid embarrassment in conversations.
D. One should be neither an introvert nor an exteavert.
Part V Translation (20 marks) Section A (10 marks)
Translate the underlined sentences in the following passage into Chinese. Remember to write the
answers on the answer sheet.
A soaring dropout rate is causing the United States to lose ground educationally to rivals abroad and is trapping millions of young Americans at the very margins of the economy. (76) The Obama administration acknowledges the problem in its new budget, which includes a $50 million prevention programme, but solving this problem will require a lot more money and a comprehensive national strategy.
The alarming scope of the dropout crisis is laid out by the Centre for Labour Market Studies
at Northeastern University in Boston and the Alternative Schools Network in Chicago. (77) Their study, which examines data from the 12 largest states, finds that 16 percent of people from the ages of 16 to 24 have dropped out.
(78) The problem is especially pronounced among men, who make up more than 60 percent
of those who change school nationally. The dropout problem hits minorities really hard. (79) Many of this country’s large urban high schools are rightly called “dropout factories” because more students leave school than graduate. According to the study, state dropout rates are highest in the South, where Georgia (22.1 percent), Florida (20.1 percent) and Texas (18.5 percent) lead the way.
(80) The dropout crisis presents a clear danger to national prosperity, but at the moment,
states and localities are struggling to contain it with little help or guidance from the federal government. Congress, which is just waking up to this issue, can improve the situation by putting its money and muscle behind proven programmes that have been shown to re-engage young people who have dropped out, and that keep at-risk children on track to complete their educations.
Section B (10 marks)
Translate the following sentences into English, using the word given in brackets. Remember to
write the answers on the answer sheet. 81. 石油价格的飞速上涨对世界经济产生了很大的影响。(affect) 82. 奥林匹克运动会上最重要的不是取胜而是参与。(not... but...) 83. 早知道你没有钥匙，我就不把门锁上了。(would not have)
84. 花这么多的时间和精力来安排这样一个活动， 值得吗？(worthwhile)
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85. 这些邮票由于其独特的艺术设计吸引了众多集邮者。(appeal to)
Part VI IQ Test (5 marks)
There are five IQ test questions in this part. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet. 86. What number comes next?
3.65 4.92 5.3 8.76 6.95 6.84 ?
87. When David is twice as old as he is now he will be four times as old as his daughter Jane
will be in five years time. If in 1990 years ago, he was four times as old as his daughter, in what year was she born?
88. The cost of hiring a private rail carriage is shared equally by all the passengers who paid
an exact number of pounds which was less than ￡100 each. The carriage has seats for 50 passengers and the total bill amounts to ￡1887. How many seats were not occupied?
89. IN how many ways can the word TURN be read? Start at the central letter T and move in any
direction.
N
N R N
N R U R N
N R U T U R N N R U R N N R N N
90. What is the largest number of regions this ring could be divided into using three straight
lines?
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