Part I Writing

  Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic: Overseas Study at an Early Age. You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below:

  1. 目前很多父母在子女高中毕业前就送他们出国学习

  2. 形成这种趋势的原因

  3. 我对些的看法

  Oversea Study at an Early Age Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)

  Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer sheet1.

  The Sky's Limit

  Air travel is a rapidly growing source of greenhouse gases. But it is also an indispensable way of travel. The new A380 The double-decker A380, the biggest airliner the world has seen, landed at Heathrow last month to test whether London's main airport could handle the new 550-seater, due to enter commercial service at the end of this year. It was a proud moment for Britain's Rolls-Royce, the makers of the aircraft's Trent 900 engines. Rolls-Royce says the four Trents on the A380 are as clean and efficient as any jet engine, and produce "as much power as 3,500 family cars". A simple calculation shows that the equivalent of more than six cars is needed to fly each passenger.

  Take the calculation further: flying a fully laden A380 is, in terms of energy, like a 14km (nine-mile) queue of traffic on the road below. And that is just one aircraft. In 20 years, Airbus reckons, 1,500 such planes will be in the air. By then, the total number of airliners is expected to have doubled, to 22,000. The huge airplane alone would be pumping out carbon dioxide (CO2) at the same rate as 5 million cars.

  That may not seem much compared with the 60 million vehicles that pour off assembly lines every year—or the 1 billion vehicles already on the world's roads. But whereas cars are used roughly for about an hour or so a day, jet airliners are on the move for at least 10 hours a day. And they burn tax-free, highoctane (1) 高能量的) fuel, which dumps hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2 into the most sensitive part of the atmosphere.

  Aviation is a relatively small source of the emissions blamed for global warming, but its share is growing the fastest. The evidence is strong. As a result, aviation is increasingly attracting the attention of environmentalists and politicians. Amid much controversy, CO2caps (限制) and carbon-trading could soon be used to help curb aircraft emissions.

  Frequent flyers, free riders

  Airlines are accused of having a free ride in terms of air pollution because they pay no tax on the fuel they use for international flights. Even though today's aircraft are about 70% more efficient than those of 40 years ago, concerns over emissions have grown. Despite booming demand for air travel, many airlines are losing money. Now green campaigners want people to think twice before they fly. The opposing voice is particularly loud in Europe, where low-cost carriers are expanding fast on busy shorthaul (2) 短距离) routes. The European Parliament will vote in July on a proposal to limit aircraft emissions.

  America is deeply unhappy at the prospect of its airlines being affected. Sharon Pinkerton, a senior representative of the Federal Aviation Administration insisted, on a visit to Brussels last year, that American carriers should be exempted from the scheme. This sets the scene for another transatlantic aviation dispute, to add to the two bitter and long-running disputes over subsidies to Europe's Airbus and the liberalisation of air traffic between the two continents.

  The airlines are growing nervous. The big international carriers represented by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) would rather Europe waited for the deliberations of a United Nations body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which has set technical, legal and safety rules for more than 50 years. International aviation was excluded from the Kyoto protocol on global warming, but only on condition that, by theend of 2007, countries and airlines worked under the umbrella of ICAO to come up with a way of reducing emissions through a trading scheme.

  Soon after the end of the Second World War the member governments of ICAO agreed that airlines should be free of fuel taxes. Some say this was to outlaw unilateral taxes that could distort markets, but others reckon it was done to boost the fledgling airline industry emerging from the fighting. The corollary was that aviation, unlike motor traffic and other forms of transport, would pay in a transparent manner for the infrastructure and services it required-air-traffic management, landing charges, flyover rights and so on. That was supposed to take care of the external costs. But no one in those days thought much about the environment. Counting the cost It was not until 1999 that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) attempted to reduce the effect of aviation on the environment. Transport as a whole was judged to be responsible for about a quarter of the world's CO2 discharges. That makes it one of the biggest sources, alongside power generation and households, as a source of the gas. Within transport, aviation accounts for about 13%. Its contribution to total man-made emissions worldwide is said to be around 3%. So why all the fuss about so little? One reason is that high-altitude emissions are probably disproportionately damaging to the environment. The nitrogen oxides from jet-engine exhausts lead to the formation of ozone, another greenhouse gas. Contrails (飞行云) are also suspected of enhancing the formation of cirrus clouds, which some scientists think adds to the global warming effect. The IPCC estimated that the overall impact on global warming of aircraft could be between two and four times that of their CO2 emissions alone, though there is no scientific consensus about the size of this multiplier.

  Naturally, the airlines choose to measure the greenhouse gases they produce in the way that casts them in the best light — a trick they deploy on safety statistics, too. For instance, over half of aircraft accidents occur around take-off and landing. So accidents per passenger-mile compare very favourably with other means of transport. But at least one study has shown that, if accidents are measured per journey instead, aircraft are the second-most dangerous way of travelling, after motorcycles.

  Likewise on greenhouse gases. IATA says an aircraft's fuel consumption is about the same as that of a family car, at 3.5 litres per 100 passenger-kilometres. So CO2 emissions are similar. But that is true only if the aircraft is full and the car's passenger seats are empty. And even then, a jumbo jet flying from London to Sydney would be like nearly 400 Volkswagen Polos each travelling just over 16,000km—the average distance a European drives in a year. In other words, although cars and aircraft discharge roughly the same amount of CO2for each passenger-kilometre, the aircraft travel an awful lot farther. Waiting to land

  Crowded airports compound the problem. Busy runways at places such as Heathrow mean aeroplanes have to circle wastefully. The possibility of being held up ensures that pilots carry extra fuel, thereby increasing the aircraft's weight and, hence, its consumption of fuel. Other small changes could further save fuel and avoid carbon emissions: aircraft could be towed everywhere on the ground by electric vehicles. Consumers, too, can take a stand by voluntarily offsetting the carbon emissions associated with flying by paying, for instance, to have trees planted.

  This week IATA said the net loss of the world's airlines in the past six years would amount to almost $44 billion. Carriers have been hit by terrorism, war, recession, the respiratory disease SAILS and soaring oil prices. There were hopes the industry could make a small profit in 2007, but having to pay for environmental costs could change that. Yet global warming is not something that airlines, or any other industry, can shake off for ever. Sooner or later, aviation will have to shoulder the burden it imposes on the planet.

  1. This passage is mainly about how the development of airline industry has affected the environment through its greenhouse gases emission.

  2. It is predicted that in 20 years, the huge airplanes alone would be pumping out carbon dioxide at the same rate as 5 million cars.

  3. The author compares the effect of airliners on the environment and that of the cars and concluded that the effect ofthe former is less because the number of airplanes is much smaller than that of the cars.

  4. In the past, aviation industry was the smallest source of greenhouse gases emission and thus did not attract people's attention.

  5. Many airlines are having less profit today although there are more demand for air travel. 6. America is proposing an alternative plan to solve the problem of emission from airliners.

  7. The airlines are mom and more nervous, and they want the problem be considered by IATA, a United Nations body.

  8. ______as a whole was judged to be responsible for about a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide discharges.

  9. Although aviation accounts for only 3% of the total man-made emission, its______ are believed to be disproportionately damaging to the environment.

  10. During the past six years, airline industry has been hit by terrorism, war, ______which made the industry suffer a total loss of $44 billion.

  Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

  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. The American Revolution was not a revolution in the sense of a radical or total change. It was not a sudden and (47) overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, (48) both were already independent nations. Significant changes were ushered in, (49) they were not breathtaking. What happened was accelerated (50) rather than outright revolution. During the conflict, people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. Most of them were not (51) disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on.

  America's War of Independence heralded the birth of three modem nations. One was Canada, which (52) its first large influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States; (53) was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer (54) for prisoners and debtors; the third newcomer—the United States — based itself squarely on republican principles.

  Yet even the political overturn was not so (55) as one might suppose. In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. British officials, everywhere ousted, were (56) by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and parliament.

  A) violent

  B) seriously

  C) revolutionary

  D) evolution

  E) another

  F) and

  G) replaced

  H) repelled

  I) other

  J) received

  K) but

  L) severe

  M) available

  N) when

  O) revolution

  Section B

  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

  A study of facts and figures on development demonstrates that China has made remarkable social progress in a range of significant areas in the last 45 years.

  China feeds and clothes 22 percent of the world's population with only seven percent of the world's farmland. The necessities of life food, clothing, goods for everyday use — are now within reach of the majority of the Chinese people. Nutrition has improved greatly for both urban and rural residents.

  The Chinese government has taken a series of measures to eliminate or reduce poverty, bringing down the number of poor in the rural population from 250 million in 1978 to only 80 million in 1994, even though this was a period in which China's population increased by over 100 million.

  The per capita living area in cities and towns increased from 3.6 square meters in 1978 to 7.5 square meters in 1993. In rural areas the per capita housing has reached 20.8 square meters.

  Educational developments have liberated millions of Chinese people from ignorance and illiteracy. In 1986 China instituted nine years of compulsory schooling, with the result that by 1993 school enrolment had reached 97.7 percent. Today, illiteracy among young and middle-aged people has dropped to only seven percent.

  The state is taking measures to keep its labor force fully employed. In recent years the urban unemployment rate has remained between two and three percent. China has put strict controls on industrial pollution in an effort to improve the overall urban environment. Ecological methods of farming are being promoted and afforestation is being speeded up. In 1993 the country's forest coverage was 13.9 percent and 766 nature reserves covered a total of 661, 800 square kilometers.

  China is working toward the goal of health care for everyone by the year 2000. In 1993 there were two hospital beds for every 833 people and two doctors for every 1,266 people. By now the immunization of children has reached 85 percent, and increased efforts are being made to monitor and control AIDS and venereal diseases.

  57. What is an appropriate title for this passage?

  [A] Fast Economic Development in China. [B] Social Development in China.

  [C] The Current Chinese Society. [D] People's View on China's Reform.

  58. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

  [A] Chinese people account for 22 percent of the world's total population.

  [B] The arable land in China constitutes seven percent of that of the world.

  [C] Most Chinese people now can easily buy the necessities of life.

  [D] Urban residents can eat nutritiously, but rural residents cannot.

  59. What is mentioned as a difficulty of poverty elimination efforts by the passage?

  [A] Slow economic development. [B] Vast area of land.

  [C] Huge population increase. [D] Natural disaster.

  60. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

  [A] Educational developments have set millions of Chinese people free.

  [B] After 1986, every child in China must receive an education of at least nine years.

  [C] Nowadays, only 7% of young and middle-aged people cannot read or write.

  [D] There is compulsory education for children now.

  61. Which of the following is mentioned as an example of achievements in health care?

  [A] Increasing budget and attention. [B] Preferential tax policy and incentives.

  [C] Decreasing mortality rate and medicine price. [D] Ratio of hospital beds to patient.

  Passage Two

  I have certainly seen lots of changes in my lifetime! I look around my home and see "mod cons" that I could never have dreamed of 50 or 60 years ago. I spent the early part of childhood in a cottage without running water or electricity and yet these days, I feel paralyzed if there is a power cut for even just an hour or two! So, I have changed too. Things that I couldn't even imagine in the past now seem quite normal.

  Businessmen can travel from London to New York in three hours and lots of people exceed the seventy-mile-per-hour speed limit on motorways. A person of 75 is not old these days. A serious illness does not mean certain death because there have been so many advances in medical science. We no longer need to be afraid of contracting diseases like polio or smallpox. I can speak to my son in Australia from my own sitting room here in Manchester, watch athletes running a race on the other side of the world without moving from my own home and I can even do my shopping while I sit here in an armchair. I never need to worry about food going bad in the warm weather and, at the flick of a switch, I can have a hot meal in a couple of minutes. So, it seems, the quality of life has greatly improved since my own childhood.

  I'm not convinced, however, that people are happier today than they were 50 years ago. We are certainly materially better off than we were but most people still seem to be weighed down by problems. My daughter and her family are a good illustration. They have a spacious, comfortable home with every labor-saving device you can think of. There's a washing machine, a clothes dryer, a food processor, a vacuum cleaner and all sorts of other household items which are designed to save time but it seems to me that my daughter and her husband just spend all that "saved" time working! They never relax and are always complaining of being tired and "stressed".

  62. What is the passage mainly about?

  [A] How life has improved. [B] How life has become worse.

  [C] A comparison of life now and that in the past. [D] Memory of life in the past.

  63. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

  [A] People can travel faster nowadays.

  [B] In the past, a 75-year-old person is considered old.

  [C] Now a person will die if he suffers from a serious illness.

  [D] At present we will no longer be helpless victims of diseases like polio or smallpox.

  64. What does the word "contracting" (Line 4, Para. 2) mean?

  [A] Infecting. [B] Acquiring. [C] Shrinking. [D] Entering into an agreement.

  65. Which of the following is NOT an example given by the author to demonstrate the convenience of _____ modern life?

  [A] Quick food. [B] Easy shopping. [C] Internet. [D] TV shows.

  66. According to the author, what is a problem of modem life?

  [A] Increased crimes. [B] Diminished friendships. [C] Increased divorce rate. [D] Pressure of modem life.

  Part Ⅴ Cloze

  Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked [A]、[B]、[C] and [D] on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

  On March I, a reader's letter published in Lianhe Zaobao's Forum page with the headline "Feedback from Readers Taken Seriously" caught my eyes. The author cited a number of suggestions he made which received (67) responses from the authorities and quick follow-up actions to back his observation. His own experiences (68) him to conclude that: "This is a good (69) of the democratic system at work in Singapore." Newspaper provides avenues for people to air their views and these are taken seriously by the authority (70) act promptly to find solutions (71) problems. (72) first glance, the letter appears only to affirm the positive and effective communication between government departments and the people. (73) should not be overlooked, however, is that underpinning this virtuous circle is the (74) of the media. To begin with, the people must have faith in the media for them to (75) up problems and issues in the belief that when their concerns are highlighted in the press, the authorities will (76) the situation. This is evidence of the credibility that the press enjoys among people. Similarly, the government, well (77) of the influence the newspapers have over its readers, pays close attention to reports, comments and views in the press. And ministries or departments will investigate and (78) with problems that come under their purview in a speedy manner. This shows that government (79) the media and believes the concerns expressed by the man in the street are genuine. It is the duty of the media to keep the people (80) of government policies and major events as well as provide (81) feedback to the government on the problems and hardships the people face. The media (82) as a bridge between the government and the people and should seek to make each aware of the concerns of the other and establish an (83) channel of communication between them. This is also the process (84) which the media develops its credibility. To win the trust of the people and strengthen its hand, the government should keep (85) of the changing needs of the people and help them overcome problems. An open and democratic government should respect the fight of the people to have (86) to information. It should, for example, explain to them the rationale for changing an important policy. And the information should be timely and comprehensive.

  67. [A] slow [B] swift [C] mild [D] emotional

  68. [A] lead [B] leads [C] let [D] led

  69. [A] illustration [B] show [C] way [D] sign

  70. [A] where [B] when [C] which [D] by which

  71. [A] of [B] to [C] with [D] about

  72. [A] As [B] In [C] On [D] At

  73. [A] What [B] How [C] Which [D] That

  74. [A] persuasion [B] influence [C] credibility [D] status

  75. [A] bring [B] propose [C] make [D] discover

  76. [A] exacerbate [B] press [C] remedy [D] disregard

  77. [A] resent [B] aware [C] above [D] notice

  78. [A] dispenses [B] passes [C] deals [D] handles

  79. [A] respects [B] is afraid of [C] is superior to [D] relies

  80. [A] away [B] informed [C] fear [D] acquisitive

  81. [A] questionable [B] little [C] retorted [D] accurate

  82. [A] acts [B] plays [C] is [D] looks

  83. [A] good [B] effective [C] smooth [D] accurate

  84. [A] in [B] to [C] by [D] with

  85. [A] pace [B] looking [C] abreast [D] time

  86. [A] access [B] channel [C] way [D] methods

  Part VI Translation

  Directions: Complete the sentences on Answer Sheet 2 by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets.

  87. There are a lot of people______________________(喜欢看电视), but I prefer to read books in my spare time.

  88.There is no specific requirements on the sample listening tests, so students can listen to the dialogue repeatedly__________________________________(想要听几遍都可以).

  89. Internet is__________________________________________(起着越来越重要的作用) in our modem society.

  90. __________________________(除了比较长之外), the report can be regarded as convincing and impressive.

  91. As a client relationship manager, one has to always consider the needs of the customers ______________________(而不是自己的方便)

  Part I Writing

  [范文] Overseas Study at an Early Age

  Nowadays, more and more parents are eager to send their children to study abroad before they finish high school by whatever means and at whatever cost. It is quite understandable for parents to send their children to study overseas because they place high expectations on their children. They are encouraged by the success stories of those who have completed their overseas study. With the development of economy, companies and institutions at home are giving more and more emphasis on overseas experiences, too.

  Consequently, pursuing overseas study has become a kind of short cut in gaining a better future. Moreover, there is still one underlying reason for this rash-economic reason. The rapid economic progress in the past few years in China has enabled more and more parents to afford the huge cost for their children's overseas study.

  As for me, overseas study is surely a helpful way to get both advanced knowledge and necessary experiences, but overseas study at an early age is neither necessary nor beneficial. The students may be too young to either tend for themselves or think for themselves. I do think that overseas study can contribute to one's self-improvement, but it's better to be pursued after one has finished his college study at home, when he is more capable of learning and living on his own.

  Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)

  1. A 2. A 3. B 4. C 5. A 6. C 7. A

  8. Transport

  9. high-altitude emissions 10.recession

  Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

  Section A 47. A 48.N 49. K 50. D 51. B 52. J 53. E 54. M 55. C 56. G

  Section B 57. B 58. D 59. C 60. A 61. D 62. C 63. C 64. B 65. C 66. D

  Part Ⅴ Cloze 67. B 68. D 69. A 70. C 71. B 72. D 73. A 74. C 75. A 76. C 77. B 78. C 79. A 80. B 81. D 82. A 83. B 84. C 85. C 86. A

  Part VI Translation

  87. who love to watch TV

  88. as much as they want

  89. playing an increasingly important role

  90. Except for its lengthiness

  91. rather than/instead of one's own convenience

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