Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay concerned "If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way." You should give an example or two to illustrate your point of view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
1. A) The woman seldom speaks highly of herself.
B) The man is unhappy with the woman's remark.
C) The man behaves as if he were a thorough fool.
D) The woman thinks she is cleverer than the man.
2. A) Three crew members were involved in the incident.
B) None of the hijackers carried any deadly weapons.
C) The plane had been scheduled to fly to Japan.
D) None of the passengers were injured or killed.
3. A) At a checkout counter. B) At a commercial bank.
C) At a travel agency. D) At a hotel front desk.
4. A) The restaurant was not up to the speakers' expectations.
B) The restaurant places many ads in popular magazines.
C) The critic thought highly of the Chinese restaurant.
D) Chinatown has got the best restaurants in the city.
5. A) Prof. Laurence has stopped conducting seminars.
B) Prof. Laurence is going into an active retirement.
C) The professor's graduate seminar is well received.
D) The professor will lead a quiet life after retirement.
6. A) Finding a replacement for Leon. B) Assigning Leon to a new position.
C) Arranging for Rodney's visit tomorrow. D) Finding a solution to Rodney's problem.
7. A) Helen has been looking forward to the exhibition.
B) The photography exhibition will close tomorrow.
C) Helen asked the man to book a ticket for her.
D) Photography is one of Helen's many hobbies.
8. A) The speakers share the same opinion.
B) Steve knows how to motivate employees.
C) The woman is out of touch with the real world.
D) The man has a better understanding of Steve.
Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
9. A) It is well paid. B) It is demanding. C) It is stimulating. D) It is fairly secure.
10. A) A lighter workload. B) Free accommodation. C) Moving expenses. D) A quick promotion.
11. A) He has to sign a long-term contract.
B) He has trouble adapting to the local weather.
C) He has to spend a lot more traveling back and forth.
D) He has difficulty communicating with local people.
12. A) The woman sympathizes with the man. B) The man is in the process of job hunting.
C) The man is going to attend a job interview. D) The woman will help the man make a choice.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
13. A) To see if he can get a loan from the woman's bank.
B) To see if he can find a job in the woman's company.
C) To inquire about the current financial market situation.
D) To inquire about the interest rates at the woman's bank.
14. A) Long-term investment. B) Any high-interest deposit.
C) A three-month deposit. D) Any high-yield investment.
15. A) She treated him to a meal. B) She raised interest rates for him.
C) She offered him dining coupons. D) She gave him loans at low rates.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some 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.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Passage One
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) The ability to predict fashion trends. B) A refined taste for artistic works.
C) Years of practical experience. D) Strict professional training.
17. A) Promoting all kinds of American hand-made specialties.
B) Strengthening cooperation with foreign governments.
C) Conducting trade in art works with dealers overseas.
D) Purchasing handicrafts from all over the world.
18. A) She has access to fashionable things. B) She is doing what she enjoys doing.
C) She can enjoy life on a modest salary. D) She is free to do whatever she wants.
Passage Two
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A) Its role is to regulate international coffee prices.
B) It represents several countries that export coffee.
C) Its most important task is to conduct coffee studies.
D) It is a Portuguese company selling coffee in New York.
20. A) The increased coffee consumption. B) The fluctuation of coffee prices.
C) The freezing weather in Brazil. D) The impact of global warming.
21. A) He is a heavy coffee drinker. B) He is tall, rich and intelligent.
C) He is doing a bachelor's degree. D) He is young, handsome and single.
22. A) A visit to several coffee-growing plantations.
B) A vacation on some beautiful tropical beach.
C) Coffee prices and his advertising campaign.
D) A quick promotion and a handsome income.
Passage Three
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
23. A) They were delayed by the train for hours.
B) They were late for the first morning bus.
C) They boarded a wrong coach in a hurry.
D) They were held up in a traffic jam.
24. A) It was postponed due to terrible weather.
B) It was spoiled by poor accommodations.
C) It was the most exciting trip they ever had.
D) It was canceled because of an unexpected strike.
25. A) Go overseas. B) Stay at home. C) Take escorted trips. D) Take romantic cruises.
Section C
Directions: In this section, you mil hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Why would an animal kill itself? It seems a strange question, and yet it is one that has (26)____ some people for a long time. The lemming（旅鼠）is one such animal. Lemmings periodically commit mass (27) ____, and no one knows just why!
The small (28) ____, which inhabit the Scandinavian mountains, sustain themselves on a diet of roots and live in nests they make underground. When their food supply is (29) ____ large, the lemmings live a normal, undisturbed life.
However, when the lemmings' food supply becomes too low to support the population, a singular (30) ____ commences. The lemmings leave their nests all together at the same time, forming huge crowds. Great numbers of the lemmings begin a long and hard journey across the Scandinavian plains, a journey that may last weeks. The lemmings eat everything in their path, continuing their (31) ____ march until they reach the sea.
The reason for what follows remains a mystery for zoologists and naturalists. Upon reaching the coast, the lemmings do not stop but swim by the thousands into the surf. Most (32)____ only a short time before they tire, sink and drown.
A common theory for this unusual phenomenon is that the lemmings do not realize that the ocean is such (33) ____ water. In their cross-country journey, the animals must traverse many smaller bodies of water, such as rivers and small lakes. They may (34) ____ that the sea is just another such swimmable (35) ____. But no final answer has been found to the mystery.
Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
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.
Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." But parents can't handle it when teenagers put this 36____ into practice. Now technology has become the new field for the age-old battle between adults and their freedom-seeking kids.
Locked indoors, unable to get on their bicycles and hang out with their friends, teens have turned to social media and their mobile phones to socialize with their peers. What they do online often 37____ what they might otherwise do if their mobility weren't so heavily 38____ in the age of helicopter parenting. Social media and smart-phone apps have become so popular in recent years because teens need a place to call their own. They want the freedom to 39____ their identity and the world around them. Instead of 40____ out, they jump online.
As teens have moved online, parents have projected their fears onto the Internet, imagining all the 41____ dangers that youth might face一from 42____ strangers to curel peers to pictures or words that could haunt them on Google for the rest of their lives.
Rather than helping teens develop strategies for negotiating public life and the risks of 43 ____with others, fear-ful parents have focused on tracking, monitoring and blocking. These tactics（策略）don't help teens develop the skills they need to manage complex social situations, 44____ risks and get help when they're in trouble. "Protecting" kids may feel like the right thing to do, but it 45____ the learning that teens need to do as they come of age in a technology-soaked world.
A) assess
B) constrained
C) contains
D) explore
E) influence
F) interacting
G) interpretation
H) magnified
I) mirrors
J) philosophy
K) potential
L) sneaking
M) sticking
N) undermines
O) violent
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.
Inequality Is Not Inevitable
[A] A dangerous trend has developed over this past third of a century. A country that experienced shared growth after World War II began to tear apart, so much so that when the Great Recession hit in late 2007, one could no longer ignore the division that had come to define the American economic landscape. How did this "shining city on a hill" become the advanced country with the greatest level of inequality?
[B] Over the past year and a half, The Great divide, a series in The New York Times, has presented a wide range of examples that undermine the notion that there are any truly fundamental laws of capitalism. The dynamics of the imperial capitalism of the 19th century needn't apply in the democracies of the 21st. we don't need to have this much inequality in America.
[C] Our current brand of capitalism is a fake capitalism. For proof of this go back to our response to the Great Recession, where we socialized losses, even as we privatized gains. Perfect competition should drive profits to zero, at least theoretically, but we have monopolies making persistently high profits. C.E.O.s enjoy incomes that are on average 295 times that of the typical worker, a much higher ratio than in the past, without any evidence of a proportionate increase in productivity.
[D] If it is not the cruel laws of economics that have led to America's great divide, what is it? The straightforward answer: our policies and our politics. People get tired of hearing about Scandinavian success stories, but the fact of the matter is that Sweden, Finland and Norway have all succeeded in having about as much or faster growth in per capita（人均的）incomes than the United States and with far greater equality.
[E] So why has America chosen these inequality-enhancing policies? Part of the answer is that as World War II faded into memory, so too did the solidarity it had created. As America triumphed in the Cold War, there didn't seem to be a real competitor to our economic model. Without this international competition, we no longer had to show that our system could deliver for most of our citizens.
[F] Ideology and interests combine viciously. Some drew the wrong lesson from the collapse of the Soviet system in 1991. The pendulum swung from much too much government there to much too little here. Corporate interests argued for getting rid of regulations, even when those regulations had done so much to protect and improve pur environment, our safety, our health and the economy itself.
[G] But this ideology was hypocritical（虚伪的）. The bankers, among the strongest advocates of laissez-faire（自由放任的）economics, were only too willing to accept hundreds of billions of dollars from the government in the aid programs that have been a recurring feature of the global economy since the beginning of the Thatcher-Reagan era of "free" markets and deregulation.
[H] The American political system is overrun by money. Economic inequality translates into political in-equality, and political inequality yields increasing economic inequality. So corporate welfare increases as we reduce welfare for the poor. Congress maintains subsidies for rich farmers as we cut back on nutritional support for the needy. Drug companies have been given hundreds of billions of dollars as we limit Medicaid benefits. The banks that brought on the global financial crisis got billions while a tiny bit went to the homeowners and victims of the same banks' predatory（掠夺性的）lending practices. This last decision was particularly foolish. There were alternatives to throwing money at the banks and hoping it would circulate through increased lending.
[I] Our divisions are deep. Economic and geographic segregation has immunized those at the top from the problems of those down below. Like the kings of ancient times' they have come to perceive their privileged positions essentially as a natural right.
[J] Our economy, our democracy and our society have paid for these gross inequalities. The true test of an economy is not how much wealth its princes can accumulate in tax havens（庇护所）, but how well off the typical citizen is. But average incomes are lower than they were a quarter-century ago. Growth has gone to the very, very top, whose share has almost increased four times since 1980. Money that was meant to have trickled（流淌）down has instead evaporated in the agreeable climate of the Cayman Islands.
[K] With almost a quarter of American children younger than 5 living in poverty, and with America doing so little for its poor, the deprivations of one generation are being visited upon the next. Of course, no country has ever come close to providing complete equality of opportunity. But why is America one of the advanced countries where the life prospects of the young are most sharply determined by the income and education of their parents?
[L] Among the most bitter stories in The Great Divide were those that portrayed the frustrations of the young, who long to enter our shrinking middle class. Soaring tuitions and declining incomes have resulted in larger debt burdens. Those with only a high school diploma have seen their incomes decline by 13 percent over the past 35 years.
[M] Where justice is concerned, there is also a huge divide. In the eyes of the rest of the world and a significant part of its own population, mass imprisonment has come to define America—a country, it bears repeating, with about 5 percent of the world's population but around a fourth of the world 's prisoners.
[N] Justice has become a commodity, affordable to only a few. While Wall Street executives used their expensive lawyers to ensure that their ranks were not held accountable for the misdeeds that the crisis in 2008 so graphically revealed, the banks abused our legal system to foreclose（取消赎回权）on mortgages and eject tenants, some of whom did not even owe money.
[O] More than a half-century ago, America led the way in advocating for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. Today, access to health care is among the most universally accepted rights, at least in the advanced countries. America, despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, is the exception. In the relief that many felt when the Supreme Court did not overturn the Affordable Care Act, the implications of the decision for Medicaid were not fully appreciated. Obamacare's objective一to ensure that all Americans have access to health care — has been blocked: 24 states have not implemented the expanded Medicaid program, which was the means by which Obamacare was supposed to deliver on its promise to some of the poorest.
[P] We need not just a new war on poverty but a war to protect the middle class. Solutions to these problems do not have to be novel. Far from it. Making markets act like markets would be a good place to start. We must end the rent-seeking society we have gravitated toward, in which the wealthy obtain profits by manipulating the system.
[Q] The problem of inequality is not so much a matter of technical economics. It's really a problem of practical politics. Inequality is not just about the top marginal tax rate but also about our children's access to food and the right to justice for all. If we spent more on education, health and infrastructure（基础设施）, we would strengthen our economy, now and in the future.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
46. In theory, free competition is supposed to reduce the margin of profits to the minimum.
47. The United States is now characterized by a great division between the rich and the poor.
48. America lacked the incentive to care for the majority of its citizens as it found no rival for its economic model.
49. The wealthy top have come to take privileges for granted.
50. Many examples show the basic laws of imperial capitalism no longer apply in present-day America.
51. The author suggests a return to the true spirit of the market.
52. A quarter of the world's prisoner population is in America.
53. Government regulation in America went from one extreme to the other in the past two decades.
54. Justice has become so expensive that only a small number of people like corporate executives can afford it.
55. No country in the world so far has been able to provide completely equal opportunities for all.
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
Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
Air pollution is deteriorating in many places around the world. The fact that public parks in cities become crowded as soon as the sun shines proves that people long to breathe in green, open spaces. They do not all know what they are seeking but they flock there, nevertheless. And, in these surroundings, they are generally both peaceful and peaceable. It is rare to see people fighting in a garden. Perhaps struggle unfolds first, not at an economic or social level, but over the appropriation of air, essential to life itself. If human beings can breathe and share air, they don't need to struggle with one another.
Unfortunately, in our western tradition, neither materialist nor idealist theoreticians give enough consideration to this basic condition for life. As for politicians, despite proposing curbs on environmental pollution, they have not yet called for it to be made a crime. Wealthy countries are even allowed to pollute if they pay for it.
But is our life worth anything other than money? The plant world shows us in silence what faithfulness to life consists of. It also helps us to a new beginning, urging us to care for our breath, not only at a vital but also at a spiritual level. The interdependence to which we must pay the closest attention is that which exists between ourselves and the plant world. Often described as "the lungs of the planet", the woods that cover the earth offer us the gift of breathable air by releasing oxygen. But their capacity to renew the air polluted by industry has long reached its limit. If we lack the air necessary for a healthy life, it is because we have filled it with chemicals and undercut the ability of plants to regenerate it. As we know, rapid deforestation combined with the massive burning of fossil fuels is an explosive recipe for an irreversible disaster.
The fight over the appropriation of resources will lead the entire planet to hell unless humans learn to share life, both with each other and with plants. This task is simultaneously ethical and political because it can be discharged only when each takes it upon herself or himself and only when it is accomplished together with others. The lesson taught by plants is that sharing life expands and enhances the sphere of the living, while dividing life into so-called natural or human resources diminishes it. We must come to view the air, the plants and ourselves as the contributors to the preservation of life and growth, rather than a web of quantifiable objects or productive potentialities at our disposal. Perhaps then we would finally begin to live, rather than being concerned with bare survival.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
56. What does the author assume might be the primary reason that people would struggle with each other?
A) To get their share of clean air. B) To pursue a comfortable life.
C) To gain a higher social status. D) To seek economic benefits.
57. What does the author accuse western politicians of?
A) Depriving common people of the right to clean air.
B) Giving priority to theory rather than practical action.
C) Offering preferential treatment to wealthy countries.
D) Failing to pass laws to curb environmental pollution.
58. What does the author try to draw our closest attention to?
A) The massive burning of fossil fuels.
B) Our relationship to the plant world.
C) The capacity of plants to renew polluted air.
D) Large-scale deforestation across the world.
59. How can human beings accomplish the goal of protecting the planet according to the author?
A) By showing respect for plants. B) By preserving all forms of life.
C) By tapping all natural resources. D) By pooling their efforts together.
60. What does the author suggest we do in order not just to survive?
A) Expand the sphere of living. B) Develop nature's potentials.
C) Share life with nature. D) Allocate the resources.
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
Early decision — you apply to one school, and admission is binding — seems like a great choice for nervous applicants. Schools let in a higher percentage of early-decision applicants, which arguably means that you have a better chance of getting in. And if you do, you're done with the whole agonizing process by December. But what most students and parents don't realize is that schools have hidden motives for offering early decision.
Early decision, since it's binding, allows schools to fill their classes with qualified students; it allows ad-missions committees to select the students that are in particular demand for their college and know those students will come. It also gives schools a higher yield rate, which is often used as one of the ways to measure college selectivity and popularity.
The problem is that this process effectively shortens the window of time students have to make one of the most important decisions of their lives up to that point. Under regular admissions, seniors have until May 1 to choose which school to attend; early decision effectively steals six months from them, months that could be used to visit more schools, do more research, speak to current students and alumni（校友）and arguably make a more informed decision.
There are, frankly, an astonishing number of exceptional colleges in America, and for any given student, there are a number of schools that are a great fit. When students become too fixated（专注）on a particular school early in the admissions process, that fixation can lead to severe disappointment if they don't get in or, if they do, the possibility that they are now bound to go to a school that, given time for further reflection, may not actually be right for them.
Insofar as early decision offers a genuine admissions edge, that advantage goes largely to students who already have numerous advantage. The students who use early decision tend to be those who have received higher-quality college guidance, usually a result of coming from a more privileged background. In this regard, there's an argument against early decision, as students from lower-income families are far less likely to have the admissions know-how to navigate the often confusing early deadlines.
Students who have done their research and are confident that there's one school they would be thrilled to get into should, under the current system, probably apply under early decision. But for students who haven't yet done enough research, or who are still constantly changing their minds on favorite schools, the early-decision system needlessly and prematurely narrows the field of possibility just at a time when students should be opening themselves to a whole range of thrilling options.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
61. What are students obliged to do under early decision?
A) Look into a lot of schools before they apply. B) Attend the school once they are admitted.
C) Think twice before they accept the offer. D) Consult the current students and alumni.
62. Why do schools offer early decision?
A) To make sure they get qualified students.
B) To avoid competition with other colleges.
C) To provide more opportunities for applicants.
D) To save students the agony of choosing a school.
63. What is said to be the problem with early decision for students?
A) It makes their application process more complicated.
B) It places too high a demand on their research ability.
C) It allows them little time to make informed decisions.
D) It exerts much more psychological pressure on them.
64. Why are some people opposed to early decision?
A) It interferes with students' learning in high school.
B) It is biased against students at ordinary high schools.
C) It causes unnecessary confusion among college applicants.
D) It places students from lower-income families at a disadvantage.
65. What does the author advise college applicants to do?
A) Refrain from competing with students from privileged families.
B) Avoid choosing early decision unless they are fully prepared.
C) Find sufficient information about their favorite schools.
D) Look beyond the few supposedly thrilling options.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
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.
汉朝是中国历史上最重要的朝代之一。汉朝统治期间有很多显著的成就。它最先向其他文化敞开大门，对外贸易兴旺。汉朝开拓的丝網之路通向了中西亚乃至罗马。各类艺术一派繁荣，涌现了很多文学、历史、哲学巨著。公元100年中国第一部字典编撰完成，收入9000个字，提供释义并列举不同的写法。其间，科技方面也取得了很大进步，发明了纸张、水钟、日暴(sundials)以及测量地震的仪器。汉朝历经400年，但统治者的腐败最终导致了它的灭亡。