But in total the very wealthy live in forty-seven different nations, with Iceland, Kazakstan, Ukraine and Poland entering the list for the first time.
Question: Which countries' annual value of all goods and services is almost equal to the fortune of all the billionaires in the world? (A)
15. Former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton have met Sri Lankan children who survived December's devastating tsunami. The former political rivals are assessing how the U.S. can help rebuild affected countries.
Young survivors of the deadly tsunami sang and performed dances during the visit by George Bush and Bill Clinton to a trauma center on Sri Lanka's southern coast. Others drew crayon pictures of their terrifying experiences to show to the former U.S. presidents.
Question: Whom did the two former U.S. Presidents meet according to the news? (A)
16. Moscow is widely regarded as having only an outside chance of staging the Games. Although the city is thriving, it suffers from a lack of hotel accommodation, transport problems, including an ageing airport and questions of security. But the city and the Russian government are prepared to make major investments to secure the 2012 Olympics. Ten billion dollars would be available to transform the city's infrastructure, including a new metro system.
Question: What problem is Moscow faced with in bidding for the 2012 Olympic Games?(C)
17. Howard Stringer has already made a name for himself as head of Sony Corporation in the United States, and as chairman of its electronics unit. However, the company as a whole, best known for its Playstation portable video games console, its Walkman personal music machines and its Vaio computers, has been losing market share to innovative new ideas from competitors. These include Samsung of South Korea and Apple Computer, whose iPod personal music system strays right into the Walkman territory that Sony once claimed for itself.
Question: Which company does Howard Stringer work for? (A)
18. The red carpet will be rolled out in Hollywood when the Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, are presented later this month. Oscars for scientific and technical achievements have already been handed out, with a little less fanfare but just as much excitement for the winners. This event was not in Hollywood but in nearby Pasadena, where engineers and scientists who make technical innovations in the movie industry get their acknowledgment.
Question: Who was awarded Oscars for scientific and technical achievements? (B)
19. Scientists have known for some time that a severely reduced food intake makes some animals live longer. Now, researchers are getting closer to understanding why. They say the finding may also lead to a similar understanding in people, and a treatment for diseases like diabetes. Question: What do we learn from the news? (A)
20. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks with India's foreign minister covered regional defense issues, including the possible sale of U.S. fighter jets to India's long-standing rival, Pakistan. India is the first stop on Ms. Rice's six-nation tour of Asia—her first trip to the region since becoming Secretary of State.
Question: Which country did Ms. Rice stop first in her six-nation tour of Asia since becoming US Secretary of State? (B)
Section C Passages (10 points)
Directions: In this section, you will hear 2 passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear 5 questions. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Monopoly is one of the most popular games in the world. Its popularity is remarkable as it was invented more than 70 years ago, in 1933. That was the year when an unemployed heating engineer called Charles Darrow decided to make up a new game for his family and friends to play.
Darrow lived in Pennsylvania in the USA. In the 1930s, the whole country was in the grip of the Great Depression. Many people were unemployed and very poor. Darrow thought that people would enjoy forgetting about their difficult lives for a while. His game would give them a chance to buy and sell houses and hotels, railroad stations, and entire streets. Just for a few hours, even poor people could be millionaires (although with fake dollars, unfortunately).
Darrow made the first set of his game, which he called Monopoly, from simple materials. He taught his family to play, and they loved it. They played it with their friends, and their friends loved it too. Everyone who played the game thought it was really fun.
Darrow was sure that other people would enjoy Monopoly. He tried to sell the game to Parker Brothers, a large games manufacturer, but they weren't interested. So, he decided to sell Monopoly himself. It was an instant success, and Darrow sold all the 5,000 sets he had made. When Parker Brothers heard about this, they realized their mistake and began to manufacture the game. Over the next year, more than a million sets were sold, and Monopoly went on to become the biggest-selling game ever. Since then, Monopoly has sold around 100 million sets, and has been translated into 19 languages. One year in the USA, there was twice as much Monopoly money printed as real money!
And what about the inventor of this amazing game? Thanks to the success of his invention, Charles Darrow became a multimillionaire, with real dollars this time. Questions 21 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 21. When was Monopoly invented? (A)
22. Why did Darrow think that people would enjoy playing Monopoly? (B) 23. Did Darrow's family like the game? (C) 24. Who made the very first Monopoly set? (C)
25. How many Monopoly sets were sold in the first year Parker Brothers made the game? (D)
Passage Two
American English has spread in popularity mostly due to business, Hollywood, the Internet, and education. Many countries still consider British English the “real thing” when it comes to studying English in the classroom, but it seems American English is being used more by second-language English speakers on the street and in their private lives. The funder and co-editor of the journal World English agrees, “American English is spreading faster than British English”, and this spreading has even had some impact in England itself.
Several factors can account for the wider use of American English. In 1993, the United States controlled 75 percent of the world's television programming with satellites sending television shows like “Sesame Street” and “E.R.” to every corner of the world. Hollywood exports also accounted for a huge share of the movie market in Europe, Asia, and South America. Another key factor is that Americans simply outnumber Britons. If a person travels widely, the chances are better that she or he will run into one of the 260 million Americans rather than one of the 55 million Britons. In other words, of the 350 million people who speak English as their first language, 70 percent speak the American version of English. Therefore, speaking American English is simply more practical.
Bill Bryson, an American writer who has written several books on the history of English, says, “There is no question that Britain made English an international language in the 19th century with its empire. But
it's Americans that have been the driving force behind the globalization of English in the 20th century.” Bryson considers that the commercial and cultural influence that the United States has had since World War II is the power behind this“driving force”.
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What account for the wider use of American English according to the passage? (B) 27. Which statement is true about American English and British English? (A) 28. Which statement is not a reason for the wider use of American English? (C) 29. When did English become an international language? (B)
30. Why did English become an international language in the 19th century according to Bill Bryson? (D)
Part II Vocabulary and Structure （5 minutes, 10 points） 31. C 32. D 33. B 34. D 35. C 36. C 37. A 38. A 39. C 40. D
Part III Situational Dialogues （5 minutes, 10 points） 41. C 42. B 43. C 44. D 45. A 46. B 47. D 48. C 49. B 50. B
Part IV IQ Test （5 minutes, 5 points） 51. C 52. D 53. B 54. B 55. A
Part V Reading Comprehension （25 minutes, 35 points） Section A Multiple Choice （5 points） 56. D 57. C 58. B 59. B 60. A
Section B Short Answer Questions （20 points） 61. “roaming” services 62. ORANGE.
63. Vodafone and T-Mobile.
64. Its British roaming rates are “unfair and excessive”. 65. By the minute. 66. Tired of. 67. stop
68. Microsoft software is increasingly threatened by hackers 69. They were affected by a newly discovered vulnerability. 70. If its browser hadn’t been integrated into Windows.
Section C True (T) or False (F) （10 points）
71. F 72. T 73. F 74. F 75. T 76. F 77. F 78. F 79. T 80. F
Part VI Cloze （10 minutes, 10 points）
81. in 82. known 83. possible 84. movements 85. observation 86. happening 87. without 88. how 89. yourself 90. people
Part VII Translation （15 minutes, 20 points）
Section A English-Chinese Translation （10 points）
91． 随着商业日趋国际化，秘书也越来越需要具有国际交际能力。
92． 在研讨会第一部分里，维基·科林斯集中强调了这一点，并证明跨越语言和文化障碍的交际比大多数英国秘书所想象的要更容易。 93． 科林斯解释道，“与其他国家相比，某些国家的商业文化存在更多的导致误会的地方。口语和身体语言一样往往容易传达错误的信息。” 94． 同样，秘书可能会发现自己在一个讲英语的世界和一个不讲英语的公司之间能够很好地保持联络。
95． 这样一种方法不需要不规则动词或复杂时态的知识。甚至一些少量的习语就能增长信心，获得经验。
Section B Chinese-English Translation (10 points)
96. Applied linguistics and language teaching are not identical but share many common interests. 97. Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.
98. There are many theories as to how and why horses and humans have developed such a special relationship over the ages.
99. It's studied that the risk of heart attacks was 17 per cent higher in the winter than in the summer, when they were least frequent.
100. Data was obtained from 50 men and women aged between 16 and 65, who responded to a questionnaire in a face-to-face interview in the shopping centre.
Part VIII Writing （30 minutes, 30 points）