高级英语材料

schools as soon as the pregnancy is __29___. Parents believe that only if the child gets into this or that prestigious nursery school will he or she ever have a chance at getting into Harvard, Yale, or Stanford. For the same reason, our elementary schools are suddenly filled with youngsters in __30 programs.

It is not just in academic study that children are being pushed harder at ever-earlier ages. Some parents start their preschool children in sports such as tennis and swimming in hopes that they will

of my child development lectures

become Olympic athletes. A young man who attended one

The pressure to make ordinary children

sports. But in most states soccer has become as

exceptional has become almost an epidemic in

26-35 OJEMH KFANG

There is nothing like the suggestion of a cancer risk to scare a parent, especially one of the over-educated, eco-conscious type. So you can imagine the reaction when a recent USA Today investigation of air quality around the nation’s schools singled out those in the smugly（自鸣得意的）green village of Berkeley, Calif., as being among the worst in the country. The city’s public high school, as well as a number of daycare centers, preschools, elementary and middle schools, fell in the lowest 10%. Industrial pollution in our town had supposedly turned students into living science experiments breathing in a laboratory’s worth of heavy metals like manganese, chromium and nickel each day. This in a city that requires school cafeterias to serve organic meals. Great, I thought, organic lunch, toxic campus.

Since December, when the report came out, the mayor, neighborhood activists （活跃分子）and various parent-teacher associations have engaged in a fierce battle over its validity: over the guilt of the steel-casting factory on the western edge of town, over union jobs versus children’s health and over what, if anything, ought to be done. With all sides presenting their own experts armed with conflicting scientific studies, whom should parents believe? Is there truly a threat here, we asked one another as we dropped off our kids, and if so, how great is it? And how does it compare with the other, seemingly perpetual health scares we confront, like panic over lead in synthetic athletic fields? Rather than just another weird episode in the town that brought you protesting environmentalists, this latest drama is a trial for how today’s parents perceive risk, how we try to keep our kids safe—whether it’s possible to keep them

safe—in what feels like an increasingly threatening world. It raises the question of what, in o ur time, “safe” could even m ean.

“There’s no way around the uncertainty,” says Kimberly Thompson, president of Kid Risk, a nonprofit group that studies children’s health. “That means your choices can matter, but it also means you aren’t going to know if they do.” A 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics explained that nervous parents have more to fear from fire, car accidents and drowning than from toxic chemical exposure. To which I say: Well, obviously. But such concrete hazards are beside the point. It’s the dangers parents can’t—and may never—quantify that occur all of sudden. That’s why I’ve rid my cupboard of microwave food packed in bags coated with a potential cancer-causing substance, but although I’ve lived blocks from a major fault line(地质断层) for more than 12 years, I still haven’t bolted our bookcases to the living room wall.

36. What does a recent investigation by USA Today reveal?

A) Heavy metals in lab tests threaten children’s health in Berkeley.

B) Berkeley residents are quite contented with their surroundings.

C) The air quality around Berkeley’s school campuses is poor.

D) Parents in Berkeley are over-sensitive to cancer risks their kids face.

37. What response did USA Today’s report draw?

A) A heated debate.

B) Popular support.

C) Widespread panic.

D) Strong criticism.

38. How did parents feel in the face of the experts’ studies?

A) They felt very much relieved.

B) They were frightened by the evidence.

C) They didn’t know who to believe.

D) They weren’t convinced of the results.

39. What is the view of the 2004 report in the journal Pediatrics?

A) It is important to quantify various concrete hazards.

B) Daily accidents pose a more serious threat to children.

C) Parents should be aware of children’s health hazards.

D) Attention should be paid to toxic chemical exposure.

40. Of the dangers in everyday life, the author thinks that people have most to fear

from __________.

A) the uncertain

B) the quantifiable

C) an earthquake

D) unhealthy food

CACBA

You hear the refrain all the time: the U.S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness? It is a question that dates at least to the appearance in 1958 of The Affluent (富裕的) Society by John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.

The Affluent Society is a modern classic because it helped define a new moment in the human condition. For most of history, “hunger, sickness, and cold” threatened nearly everyone, Galbraith wrote. “Poverty was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ours.” After World War II, the dread of another Great Depression gave way to an economic boom. In the 1930s unemployment had averaged 18.2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4.5 percent.

To Galbraith, materialism had gone mad and would breed discontent. Through advertising, companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need. Because so much spending was artificial, it would be unfulfilling. Meanwhile, government spending that would make everyone better off was being cut down because people instinctively—and wrongly—labeled government only as “a necessary evil.”

It’s often said that only the rich are g etting ahead; everyone else is standing still or falling behind. Well, there are many undeserving rich—overpaid chief executives, for instance. But over any meaningful period, most people’s incomes are increasing. From 1995 to 2004, inflation-adjusted average family income rose 14.3 percent, to $43,200. people feel “squeezed” because their rising incomes often don’t satisfy their rising wants—for bigger homes, more health care, more education, faster Internet connections.

The other great frustration is that it has not eliminated insecurity. People regard job stability as part of their standard of living. As corporate layoffs increased, that part has eroded. More workers fear they’ve become “the disposable American,” as Louis Uchitelle puts it in his book by the same name.

Because so much previous suffering and social conflict stemmed from poverty, the arrival of widespread affluence suggested utopian (乌托邦式的) possibilities. Up to a point, affluence succeeds. There is much les physical misery than before. People are better off. Unfortunately, affluence also creates new complaints and contradictions.

Advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens. But the quest for growth lets loose new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order. Affluence liberates the individual, promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-fulfillment. But the promise is so extravagant that it predestines many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown and obesity (肥胖症). Statistical indicators of happiness have not risen with incomes.

Should we be surprised? Not really. We’ve simply reaffirmed an old truth: the pursuit of affluence does not always end with happiness.

41. What question does John Kenneth Galbraith raise in his book The Affluent

Society?

A) Why statistics don’t tell the truth about the economy.

B) Why affluence doesn’t guarantee happiness.

C) How happiness can be promoted today.

D) What lies behind an economic boom.

42. According to Galbraith, people feel discontented because ________.

A) public spending hasn’t been cut down as expected

B) the government has proved to be a necessary evil

C) they are in fear of another Great Depression

D) materialism has run wild in modern society

43. Why do people feel squeezed when their average income rises considerably?

A) Their material pursuits have gone far ahead of their earnings.

B) Their purchasing power has dropped markedly with inflation.

C) The distribution of wealth is uneven between the r5ich and the poor.

D) Health care and educational cost have somehow gone out of control.

44. What does Louis Uchitelle mean by “the disposable American” (Line 3, Para.

5)?

A) Those who see job stability as part of their living standard.

B) People full of utopian ideas resulting from affluence.

C) People who have little say in American politics.

D) Workers who no longer have secure jobs.

45. What has affluence brought to American society?

A) Renewed economic security.

B) A sense of self-fulfillment.

C) New conflicts and complaints.

D) Misery and anti-social behavior.

41-45BDADC

Like most people, I’ve long understood that I will be judged by my occupation, that my profession is a gauge people use to see how smart or talented I am. Recently, however, I was disappointed to se e that it also decides how I’m treated as a person. Last year I left a professional position as a small-town reporter and took a job waiting tables. As someone paid to serve food to people. I had customers say and do things to me I suspect they’d never say or do to their most casual acquaintances. One night a man talking on his cell phone waved me away, then beckoned (示意) me back with his finger a minute later, complaining he was ready to order and asking where I’d been.

I had waited tables during summers in college and was treated like a peon(勤杂工) by plenty of people. But at 19 years old. I believed I deserved inferior treatment from professional adults. Besides, people responded to me differently after I told them I was in college. Customers would joke that one day I’d be sitting at their table, waiting to be served.

Once I graduated I took a job at a community newspaper. From my first day, I heard a respectful tone from everyone who called me. I assumed this was the way the professional world worked-cordially.

I soon found out differently, I sat several feet away from an advertising sales representative with a similar name. Our calls would often get mixed up and someone asking for Kristen would be transferred to Christie. The mistake was immediately

evident. Perhaps it was because money was involved, but people used a tone with Kristen that they never used with me.

My job title made people treat me with courtesy. So it was a shock to return to the restaurant industry.

It’s no secret that there’s a lot to put up with when waiting tables, and fortunately, much of it can be easily forgotten when you pocket the tips. The service industry, by definition, exists to cater to others’ needs. Still, it seemed that many of my customers didn’t get the difference between server and servant.

I’m now applying to graduate school, which means someday I’ll return to a profession where people need to be nice to me in order to get what they want. I think I’ll take them to dinner first, and see how they treat someone whose only job is to serve them.

36. The author was disappointed to find that ___________________.

A) one’s position is used as a gauge to measure one’s intelligence.

B) talented people like her should fail to get a respectable job

C) one’s occupation affects the way one is treated as a person

D) professionals tend to look down upon manual workers

37. What does the author intend to say by the example in the second paragraph?

A) Some customers simply show no respect to those who serve them.

B) People absorbed in a phone conversation tend to be absent-minded.

C) Waitresses are often treated by customers as casual acquaintances.

D) Some customers like to make loud complaints for no reason at all.

38. How did the author feel when waiting tables at the age of 19?

A) She felt it unfair to be treated as a mere servant by professionals.

B) She felt badly hurt when her customers regarded her as a peon.

C) She was embarrassed each time her customers joked with her.

D) She found it natural for professionals to treat her as inferior.

39. What does the author imply by saying “…many of my customers didn’t get the difference between server and serv ant” (Lines 3-4, Para.7)?

A) Those who cater to others’ needs are destined to be looked down upon.

B) Those working in the service industry shouldn’t be treated as servants.

C) Those serving others have to put up with rough treatment to earn a living.

D) The majority of customers tend to look on a servant as a server nowadays.

40. The author says she’ll one day take her clients to dinner in order to _______.

A) see what kind of person they are

B) experience the feeling of being served

C）show her generosity towards people inferior to her

D）arouse their sympathy for people living a humble life

CADBA

It is hard to escape the fact that in developed societies, despite progress, innovation and prosperity, there is something not quite right. In some cases, it is hard for people to put a fmger on it: a feeling of emptiness and not belonging, a lack of defined relationships and solid social structures. In other respects, it is readily

quantifiable: rates of drug abuse, violent crime and depression and suicide are rocketing. Why are we so unhappy? It seems that the Enlightenment brought forth unparalleled liberty in economic, social and political life, but we are now undergoing a midlife crisis. The politics of happiness is nothing new. Aristotle once said that happiness is the goal of life. But for me. the person who brings the great conundrum of personal happiness alive is Robert Kennedy. In a beautifully crafted speech, he said what "makes life worthwhile" is "the health of our children, the quality of their education, they joy of their play," "the strength of our marriages... our devotion to our country" and our "wit...wisdom and courage." And he pointed out that none of these could be measured by gross national product.

Nor should we be surprised by the politics of happiness. Ask people,how they are, and they will answer in terms of their family life, community life and work life, rather than just what they are paid. Despite this, it is a notoriously difficult subject for politicians to grasp. One reason is that happiness and well-being are generally not well served by statistical analysis. Politicians, obsessed with inputs and outputs, targets and controls, are flummoxed by immeasurable concepts such as the value people place on spending time with their families. Another reason is that electoral cycles lend themselves to a culture of short-termism, with a need for immediate and quantifiable measurements.

One such measurement is GDP. In many ways, increasing this has been the raison d'etre for many center-right political parties since the 1980s. Back then, many developed economies were in a state of economic malaise, with persistently high inflation and unemployment. We needed something to reverse this stagnation and put us back onto the path of prosperity. Thankfully, we got that. Today we need to be just as revolutionary to put us back on track to social prosperity: to respond to that yearning for happiness. That is why I have been arguing in Britain that we need to refocus our energies on general well-being(GWB). It means recognizing the social, cultural and moral factors that give true meaning to our lives. In particular, it means focusing on a sustainable environment and building stronger societies. And yes, it also means recognizing that there is more to life than money: indeed, that quality of life means more than the quantity of money.

I think the center-right can be the champions of this cause. The center-left never really get the well-being agenda because they treat individuals as units of account. And they find it difficult to understand how it cannot be delivered simply by the push of a legislator's pen. Instead, the politics of well-being is a politics that needs to be founded on sharing responsibility. Of course, government must take its own responsibilities. But that needs to be part of a wider cultural change: a cultural change that will occur as a consequence of legislation, leadership and social change. What's the government's role? It is to show leadership and set the framework. Showing leadership means leading the change in the many areas that impact on well-being. For example, everyone would agree that spending more time with family is crucial to happiness. Here governments should be pioneers of flexible working with public-sector employees.

Setting the right framework means creating incentives and removing barriers to remodel the context within which the whole of society makes choices. Take the environment. Everyone would agree that a cleaner local environment would enhance our well-being. By setting a framework that creates a price for carbon in our economy and encourages green innovation, the government can help people make the better choice.

Ultimately, society's happiness requires us all to play our part. Indeed, playing our part is part of being happy. That is why we need a revolution in responsibility. Corporate responsibility means businesses taking a proactive role, and taking account of their employees' lives. Civic responsibility means giving power back to local government, community organizations and social enterprises so they can formulate local solutions to local problems. And personal responsibility means we all do out bit, be it in cleaning up our local environment or participating in local politics.

Professor Neil Browne at Bowling Green State University recently wrote an article: "If Markets Are So Wonderful, Why Can't I Find Friends at the Store?" It is not that markets are bad or that we are doomed to a life of perpetual unhappiness. Rather, given our advances in terms of political freedom, economic enterprise and cultural ingenuity, life could, and should, be more satisfying. That is why focusing on general well-being could be the big, defining political concept of the 21st century. And by recognizing the responsibility every section of society has, we also have the means to enhance it.

41. It can be concluded from the passage that the author's major concern is _______.

A) the continuing social progress and prosperity

B) the development of western philosophy

C) corporate, civic and personal responsibilities

D) general well-being of the society

42. The expression "flummoxed by" in the sentence "Politicians, obsessed with inputs and outputs, targets and controls, are flummoxed by immeasurable concepts such as the value people place on spending time with their families." (para. 2) can best be replaced by _______.

A) confronted with B) fascinated with

C) perplexed by D) haunted by

43. According to the passage, why is the happiness of the general public a difficult subject for the government?

A) It can not be adequately explained by statistical data.

B) It is not related to a culture of short-term ism.

C) People need to cope with inflation and unemployment first.

D) People place too much value on happiness and well-being.

44. It can be inferred from the passage that the author is most probably _______.

A) an American congressman B) a British journalist

C) an American politician D) a British environmentalist

45. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A) Politicians are obsessed with inputs and outputs, targets and controls.

B) short-termism leads to the pursuit of immediate and quantifiable measurements.

C) Center-right political parties have long focused on the increase of GDP.

D) The cause of building GWB can be led by the center-left political parties. DCABD

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Importance of Aim in Lives by commenting on Alexander Dumas’ famous rema rk, “Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.”

You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled The Importance of Failure to Success by commenting on George Cukor’s famous remark, “You can't have any successes unless you can accept failure.” You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

我总以为，在中国效率最高的会议要数学校召集的家长会。家长会完全符合“廉政建议”

的要求，与会的家长绝不会像参加行业、单位的一些会议，先看看会议地点是不是设在

风景旅游区，会后发不发纪念品之类，然后方决定是否参加。其他会议都难得准时，惟

有家长会绝对正点召开。在家长会上，家长们个个全神贯注地倾听、记录，生怕漏掉一

点内容。不少会议都可列入可开可不开之列，但对于学校和家长而言，家长会则是连接

学校和家长必不可少的桥梁。

I always believe that the most efficient meeting in China is the parents’ meeting called by the school. The parents’ meeting is in full conformity with the requirements for the “building of

an honest and clean government”. With respect to meetings organized by a certain trade or the

unit where one works, the person wants to know whether the venue of a meeting is in a scenic

area frequented by tourists and whether gifts or souvenirs will be handed out after the meeting before he decides whether to go or not. But for the parents’ meeting, nobody will ever think of

this. While other meetings are rarely convened on time, the parents’ meeting absolutely starts

with punctuality. At the parents’meeting, every parent listens and takes notes with rapid attention lest he or she might miss anything. For many things, it does not really matter whether they are to be held or not, but to the school and the parents, the parents’ meeting is

an absolutely necessary bridge to connect parents with schools

中国改革开放以来，国民经济年均增长速度达到9.7%。经过三十多年的快速发展，中国大部分地区已奠定了一定的物质技术基础。中国已经发展成为一个全球极富吸引力的大市场。世界各国和地区不少有远见卓识的企业家，都将目光投向了中国，投向了西部，并从投资活动中获得了丰厚的回报。中国加入世贸组织后，外商参与中国西部开发的机会越来越多。西部大开发一定能成为沟通世界各国和中国的一座桥梁，促进中国和世界经济共同发展，共同繁荣。

Since the adoption of opening and reform policy, China’s annual growth of national economy has

reached 9.7%. Through the rapid (economic) development in the past 30-plus years, a relatively solid foundation in terms of material wealth and technology was laid in the most parts of China. China has developed into a big market attractive to the world. Numerous/A number of entrepreneurs of foresight around the world have cast their eye to China, especially the west China and gained abundant

profit/profitability from investment. After China’s entry into the WTO, there are more and more opportunities for foreign businessmen to join in the development of the West. The Great Western Development is sure to be a bridge between China and the rest world, which promotes/promoting the common development and prosperity of China and the world.