Text 3
Today, widespread social pressure to immediately go to college in conjunction with increasingly high expectations in a fast-moving world often causes students to completely overlook the possibility of taking a gap year. After all, if everyone you know is going to college in the fall, it seems silly to stay back a year, doesn't it? And after going to school for 12 years, it doesn't feel natural to spend a year doing something that isn’t academic.
But while this may be true, it’s not a good enough reason to condemn gap years. There's always a constant fear of falling behind everyone else on the socially perpetuated “race to the finish line,” whether that be toward graduate school, medical school or lucrative career. But despite common misconceptions, a gap year does not hinder the success of academic pursuits－in fact, it probably enhances it.
Studies from the United States and Australia show that students who take a gap year are generally better prepared for and perform better in college than those who do not. Rather than pulling students back, a gap year pushes them ahead by preparing them for independence, new responsibilities and environmental changes－ all things that first-year students often struggle with the most. Gap year experiences can lessen the blow when it comes to adjusting to college and being thrown into a brand new environment, making it easier to focus on academics and activities rather than acclimation blunders.
If you're not convinced of the inherent value in taking a year off to explore interests, then consider its financial impact on future academic choices. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 80 percent of college students end up changing their majors at least once. This isn’t surprising, considering the basic mandatory high school curriculum leaves students with a poor understanding of themselves listing one major on their college applications, but switching to another after taking college classes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but depending on the school, it can be costly to make up credits after switching too late in the game. At Boston College, for example, you would have to complete an extra year were you to switch to the nursing school from another department. Taking a gap year to figure things out initially can help prevent stress and save money later on.
31. One of the reasons for high-school graduates not taking a gap year is that .
A. they think it academically misleading
B. they have a lot of fun to expect in college
C. it feels strange to do differently from others
D. it seems worthless to take off-campus courses
32. Studies from the US and Australia imply that taking a gap year helps .
A．keep students from being unrealistic
B．lower risks in choosing careers
C．ease freshmen’s financial burdens
D．relieve freshmen of pressures
33. The word “acclimation”（Line 8, Para. 3） is closest in meaning to .
A．adaptation
B．application
C．motivation
D．competition
34. A gap year may save money for students by helping them .
A．avoid academic failures B．establish long-term goals C．switch to another college
D．decide on the right major
35. The most suitable title for this text would be .
A. In Favor of the Gap Year
B. The ABCs of the Gap Year
C. The Gap Year Comes Back
D. The Gap Year: A Dilemma
Text 4
Though often viewed as a problem for western states, the growing frequency of wildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars, says Professor Max Moritz, a specialist in fire ecology and management.
In 2015, the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of its $5.5 billion annual budget fighting fires － nearly double the percentage it spent on such efforts 20 years ago. In effect, fewer federal funds today are going towards the agency's other work－ such as forest conservation, watershed and cultural resources management, and infrastructure upkeep－that affect the lives of all Americans.
Another nationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies are going into construction in fire-prone districts. As Moritz puts it, how often are federal dollars building homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire?
“It’s already a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the whole country,” he says. We need to take a magnifying glass to that. Like, “Wait a minute, is this OK?”“Do we want instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts of the landscape?”
Such a view would require a corresponding shift in the way US society today views fire, researchers say.
For one thing, conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive. Over the past decade, the focus has been on climate change － how the warming of the Earth from greenhouse gases is leading to conditions that worsen fires.
While climate is a key element, Moritz says, it shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of the equation.
“The human systems and the landscapes we live on are linked, and the interactions go both ways," he says. Failing to recognize that, he notes, leads to "an overly simplified view of what the solutions might be. Our perception of the problem and of what the solution is becomes very limited.”
At the same time, people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be wholly controlled and unleashed only out of necessity, says Professor Balch at the University of Colorado. But acknowledging fire's inevitable presence in human life is an attitude crucial to developing the laws, policies, and practices that make it as safe as possible, she says.
“We’ve disconnected ourselves from living with fire,” Balch says. “It is really important to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection with fire today.”
36. More frequent wildfires have become a national concern because in 2015 they .
A．exhausted unprecedented management efforts
B．consumed a record-high percentage of budget
C. severely damaged the ecology of western states
D. caused a huge rise of infrastructure expenditure
37. Moritz calls for the use of "a magnifying glass" to .
A. raise more funds for fire-prone areas
B. avoid the redirection of federal money
C. find wildfire-free parts of the landscape
D．guarantee safer spending of public funds
38. While admitting that climate is a key element, Moritz notes that .
A．public debates have not settled yet
B．fire-fighting conditions are improving
C．other factors should not be overlooked
D．a shift in the view of fire has taken place
39. The overly simplified view Moritz mentions is a result of failing to .
A. discover the fundamental makeup of nature
B. explore the mechanism of the human systems
C. maximize the role of landscape in human life
D．understand the interrelations of man and nature
40. Professor Balch points out that fire is something man should .
A. do away with
B. come to terms with
C. pay a price for
D. keep away from
【 参 考 答 案 】
【31-35】CDADA 【36-40】BDCDB
Part B
Direction：Read the following text and match each of the numbered items in the left column to its corresponding information in the right column. There are two extra choices in the right column. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. （10 points）
The decline in American manufacturing is a common refrain, particularly from Donald Trump. "We don't make anything anymore," he told Fox News, while defending his own made-in-Mexico clothing line.
Without question, manufacturing has taken a significant hit during recent decades, and further trade deals raise questions about whether new shocks could hit manufacturing.But there is also a different way to look at the data.
Across the country, factory owners are now grappling with a new challenge: instead of having too many workers, they may end up with too few. Despite trade competition and outsourcing, American manufacturing still needs to replace tens of thousands of retiring boomers every years. Millennials may not be that interested in taking their place, other industries are recruiting them with similar or better pay.
For factory owners, it all adds up to stiff competition for workers－and upward pressure on wages. "They're harder to find and they have job offers," says Jay Dunwell, president of Wolverine Coil Spring, a family-owned firm, "They may be coming [into the workforce], but they've been plucked by other industries that are also doing an well as manufacturing," Mr. Dunwell has begun bringing high school juniors to the factory so they can get exposed to its culture.
At RoMan Manufacturing, a maker of electrical transformers and welding equipment that his father cofounded in 1980, Robert Roth keep a close eye on the age of his nearly 200 workers, five are retiring this year. Mr. Roth has three community-college students enrolled in a work-placement program, with a starting wage of $13 an hour that rises to $17 after two years.
At a worktable inside the transformer plant, young Jason Stenquist looks flustered by the copper coils he's trying to assemble and the arrival of two visitors. It's his first week on the job. Asked about his choice of career, he says at high school he considered medical school before switching to electrical engineering. "I love working with tools. I love creating." he says.
But to win over these young workers, manufacturers have to clear another major hurdle: parents, who lived through the worst US economic downturn since the Great Depression, telling them to avoid the factory. Millennials "remember their father and mother both were laid off. They blame it on the manufacturing recession," says Birgit Klohs, chief executive of The Right Place, a business development agency for western Michigan.
These concerns aren't misplaced: Employment in manufacturing has fallen from 17 million in 1970 to 12 million in 2013. When the recovery began, worker shortages first appeared in the high-skilled trades. Now shortages are appearing at the mid-skill levels.
"The gap is between the jobs that take to skills and those that require a lot of skill," says Rob Spohr, a business professor at Montcalm Community College. "There're enough people to fill the jobs at McDonalds and other places where you don't need to have much skill. It's that gap in between, and that's where the problem is."
Julie Parks of Grand Rapids Community points to another key to luring Millennials into manufacturing: a work/life balance. While their parents were content to work long hours, young people value flexibility. "Overtime is not attractive to this generation. They really want to live their lives," she says.
[A] says that he switched to electrical engineering because he loves working with tools. | |
41． Jay Deuwell | [B] points out that there are enough people to fill the jobs that don’t need much skill. |
42． Jason Stenquist | [C] points out that the US doesn ’ t manufacture anything anymore. |
43． Birgit Klohs | [D] believes that it is important to keep a close eye on the age of his workers. |
44． Rob Spohr | [E] says that for factory owners ， workers are harder to find because of stiff competition. |
45． Julie Parks | [F] points out that a work/life balance can attract young people into manufacturing. |
[G] says that the manufacturing recession is to blame for the lay-off the young people’s parents |
Section III Translation
Directions: Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written neatly on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
My dream has always been to work somewhere in an area between fashion and publishing. Two years before graduating from secondary school, I took a sewing and design course thinking that I would move on to a fashion design course. However, during that course I realised that I was not good enough in this area to compete with other creative personalities in the future, so I decided that it was not the right path for me. Before applying for university I told everyone that I would study journalism, because writing was, and still is, one of my favourite activities. But, to be absolutely honest, I said it, because I thought that fashion and me together was just a dream - I knew that no one, apart from myself, could imagine me in the fashion industry at all !
Section IV Writing
Part A
Directions: Suppose you are invited by Professor Williams to give a presentation about Chinese culture to a group of international students. Write a reply to
1） Accept the invitation, and
2） Introduce the key points of your presentation. You should write neatly on the ANWSER SHEET.
Do not sign you own name at the end of the letter, use “Li Ming ” instead. Do not write the address .(10 points)
Part B
Directions: Write your essay on ANSWER SHEET. (15 points) You should
1) interpret the chart, and
2) give your comments.
You should write about 150 words on the ANSWER SHEET. (15points)
【 参 考 答 案 】
【41-45】EAGBF
【翻译参考译文】
我的梦想一直是在时尚和出版之间的某个领域工作。 中学毕业前两年，我选修了缝纫和设计课程，我想我会继续学习时装设计课程。然而，在那门课程中，我意识到我在这方面不够好，无法在未来与其他有创造力的人竞争，所以我认为这不是我的正确道路。 在申请大学之前，我告诉大家我会学习新闻学，因为写作曾经是、现在仍然是我最喜欢的活动之一。 但是，说实话我之所以这么说，是因为我认为从事时装设计行业只是一个梦想——我知道除了我自己，没有人能想象我在时尚界工作！
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