1 . Progressives often support diversity missions as a path to equality and a way to level the playing field. But all too often such policies are an insincere form of virtue-signaling that benefits only the most privileged and does little to help average people.
A pair of bills sponsored by Massachusetts state Senator Jason Lewis and House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, to ensure "gender equality" on boards and commissions, provide a case in point.
Haddad and Lewis are concerned that more than half the state-government board are less than 40 percent female. In order to ensure that elite women have more such opportunities, they have proposed imposing government quotas（配额）. If the bills become law, state boards and commissions will be required to set aside 50 percent of board seats for women by 2022.
The bills are similar to a measure recently adopted in California, which last year became the first state to require gender quotas for private companies. In signing the measure, California Governor Jerry Brown admitted that the law, which clearly classifies people on the basis of sex, is probably unconstitutional.
The US Supreme Court frowns on sex-based classifications unless they are designed to address an "important" policy interest. Because the California law applies to all boards, even where there is no history of prior discrimination, courts are likely to rule that the law violates the constitutional guarantee of "equal protection".
But are such government mandates even necessary? Female participation on corporate boards may not currently mirror the percentage of women in the general population, but so what?
The number of women on corporate boards has been steadily increasing without government interference. According to a study by Catalyst, between 2010 and 2015 the share of women on the boards of global corporations increased by 54 percent.
Requiring companies to make gender the primary qualification for board membership will inevitably lead to less experienced private sector boards. That is exactly what happened when Norway adopted a nationwide corporate gender quota.
Writing in The New Republic, Alice Lee notes that increasing the number of opportunities for board membership without increasing the pool of qualified women to serve on such boards has led to a "golden skirt "phenomenon, where the same elite women occupy multiple seats on a variety of boards.
Next time somebody pushes corporate quotas as a way to promote gender equity, remember that such policies are largely self-serving measures that make their sponsors feel good but do little to help average women.
1. The author believes that the bills sponsored by Lewis and Haddad will __________.| A．help little to reduce gender bias. |
| B．pose a threat to the state government. |
| C．raise women's position in politics. |
| D．greatly broaden career options. |
| A．the harm from absolute board decision. |
| B．the importance of constitutional guarantees. |
| C．the pressure on women in global corporations. |
| D．the needlessness of government interventions. |
| A．the underestimation of elite women's role |
| B．the objection to female participation on boards. |
| C．the entry of unqualified candidates into the board. |
| D．the growing tension between labor and management. |
| A．Women's need in employment should be considered. |
| B．Feasibility should be a prime concern in policy making. |
| C．Everyone should try hard to promote social justice. |
| D．Major social issues should be the focus of the government. |
2 . While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus.
It's a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet the real-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirely?
Andrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics.
"We hear on all sides that we're not teaching enough mathematics, and the Chinese are way ahead of us," Hacker says. "I'm suggesting we're teaching too much mathematics to too many people. Not everybody has to know calculus. If you're going to become an aeronautical engineer, fine. But most of us aren't."
Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College: Numeracy 101. There, his students of "citizen statistics" learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports. Such courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.
Hacker's argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what's needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether.
Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in American classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder.
"Make mathematics more available," Droujkova says. "Redesign it so it's more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences."
Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, has a similar perspective. Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of "fake math"—an emphasis on rote memorization of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.
Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical.
"I'm going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways to make their subject interesting and exciting so students want to take it," Hacker says. "All that I ask is that alternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus."
1. What is the general complaint about America's math education according to Hacker?| A．America is not doing as well as China. | B．Math professors are not doing a good job. |
| C．It doesn't help students develop their literacy. | D．There has hardly been any innovation for years. |
| A．Allow students to learn high-level math step by step. |
| B．Enable students to make practical use of basic math. |
| C．Lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies. |
| D．Help students to develop their analytical abilities. |
| A．Make complex concepts easy to understand. | B．Start teaching children math at an early age. |
| C．Help children work wonders with calculus. | D．Try to arouse students' curiosity in math. |
| A．To enable learners to understand the world better. | B．To help learners to tell fake math from real math. |
| C．To broaden Americans' perspectives on math. | D．To exert influence on world development. |
3 . There have been many great violinists but none could hold a candle to Kuznetsov, a miraculous young Russian. On his emergence while still in his teens, his playing was filled with timeless wisdom beyond his years; he now holds the stage with immense authority. So it comes no surprise that he is about to add a new string to his bow. When he performs with the English Chamber Orchestra, it will be as both soloist(独奏者) and conductor. “It’s something I’ve often thought about,” he says.
Other musicians who have traded the bow or piano for the baton(指挥棒) have failed; the transition is not easy, of which he is aware. “The most crucial thing is the human chemistry between conductor and players. You must avoid at all costs being an outsider, as though saying to the orchestra,‘You make your music while I imagine mine. ’”
He is quite relaxed about not yet having his own hand-language---every conductor is different. Kuznetsov believes the connection between notes is not just physical, but also spiritual. Spiritually is, for Kuznetsov, the conductor’s key characteristic. “And it should ideally be expressed through beauty of movement,” he says. Some conductors throw themselves about, others hardly move a muscle. Where will Kuznetsov fit on that scale? “We must wait and see,” he says.
Kuznetsov himself moved straight as an arrow toward his goal. His father was an oboist(双簧管演奏者) and his mother conducted a choir, but at the age of four, young Leonid settled on the violin. “The violin is located at the front of the orchestra. It seemed very desirable to sit there and show off.” He gave his first concert at the age of five. “When I went on stage, I bowed so deeply and so long that the audience laughed---but I knew that this was what great artists always did. I felt it was an honour for the audience to listen to me.” His programme that day included Paganini variations, “which were very easy for me”.
What is his view now of the recordings he made at that age? “I didn’t have the technique I have now but across the years the intuition has not changed. I still feel every time I go on stage as though I’m newborn.”
Kuznetsov cautiously paces his own development. He didn’t give his first performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto until he felt ready for it, and he’ll let Bach’s works stay in his mind for some years.
One of Kuznetsov’s admirers wonders whether he is in danger of not hanging onto “the fearlessness of youth”. On the evidence of Kuznetsov’s bravely assured new interpretation of the Brahms Concerto, which he plays on a new CD release, I’d say that his fearlessness is in no danger yet.
1. Kuznetsov thinks ________ is most important in conducting.| A．the players’ recognition of the conductor |
| B．the understanding between the conductor and the orchestra |
| C．whether the conductor has cooperated with the players before |
| D．the conductor’s and the orchestra’s knowledge of the composition |
| A．He isn’t as enthusiastic as before about the violin. |
| B．He was confident while giving his first concert. |
| C．He didn’t start to play the violin until five. |
| D．He plans to give Bach’s works a try first. |
| A．It’s easy for piano or violin players to become conductors. |
| B．Violin players are usually those who like to show off in an orchestra. |
| C．The writer thinks highly of Kuznetsov’s performance as a conductor. |
| D．Kuznetsov hasn’t decided which conductor’s hand-language to follow. |
| A．A violinist’s understanding of music. |
| B．Kuznetsov’s efforts that have led to his success. |
| C．A violinist’s new attempts in his musical ambitions. |
| D．Kuznetsov’s insight into how techniques matter in performance. |
4 . With the coming of big data age, data science is supposed to be starved for, of which the adaption can point a great change in corporate competitiveness. Companies, both born in the digital era and traditional world are showing off their skills in data science. Therefore, it seems to have been creating a great demand for the experts of this type.
Mr Carlos Guestrin, machine learning professor from University of Washington argues that all software applications will need inbuilt intelligence within five years, making data scientists — people trained to analyze large bodies of information — key workers in this emerging “cognitive” technology economy. There are already critical applications that depend on machine learning, a subfield of data science, led by recommendation programs, fraud detection systems (欺诈检测系统), forecasting tools and applications for predicting customer behavior.
Many companies that are born digital — particularly internet companies that have a great number of real-time customer interactions to handle — are all-in when it comes to data science. Pinterest, for instance, maintains more than 100 machine learning models that could be applied to different classes of problems, and it constantly fields requests from managers eager to use this resource to deal with their business problem.
The factors weighing on many traditional companies will be the high cost of mounting a serious machine-learning operation. Netflix is estimated to spend $150m a year on a single application and the total bill is probably four times that once all its uses of the technology are taken into account.
Another problem for many non-technology companies is talent. Of the computer science experts who use Kaggle, only about 1,000 have deep learning skills, compared to 100,000 who can apply other machine learning techniques, says Mr Goldbloom. He adds that even some big companies of this type are often reluctant to expand their pay scales to hire the top talent in this field.
The biggest barrier to adapting to the coming era of “smart” applications, however, is likely to be cultural. Some companies, such as General Electric, have been building their own Silicon Valley presence to attract and develop the digital skills they will need.
Despite the obstacles, some may master this difficult transition. But companies that were built, from the beginning, with data science at their center, are likely to represent serious competition.
1. Which one is an obstacle for many traditional companies to popularize learning operations?| A．Technological problem. | B．Expert crisis. |
| C．High cost. | D．Customer interactions. |
| A．Machine learning operations are costly in Netflix. |
| B．Machine learning plays an important role in existent applications. |
| C．Machine learning experts are not highly paid in some non-technology companies. |
| D．Machine learning models are not sufficient to solve business problems in Pinterest. |
| A．To point out the problems facing machine learning experts. |
| B．To call on companies to cultivate more experts in data science. |
| C．To tell the readers the present situation of data science. |
| D．To advise non-technology companies to look beyond the advantages they face. |
| A．Data science: a forefront force in tech business |
| B．Corporate competition: an obstacle to the transition |
| C．Machine learning : a key to smart technology |
| D．Technique experts: a decisive factor of the coming era |
5 . Growing Up in the Library
I grew up in libraries, or at least it feels that way. I was raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, just a few blocks from the brick-faced Bertram Woods branch of the Shaker Heights Public Library system. I went there several times a week with my mother. She and I would walk in together, but as soon as we passed through the door, we each headed towards our favorite sections. The library might have been the first place I was ever given autonomy.
Even when I was maybe four or five years old, I was allowed to head off on my own. Then, after a while, my mother and I would reunite at the checkout counter with our finds. Together we'd wait as the librarian pulled out the date card and stamped it with the checkout machine ― that giant fist thumping the card with a loud chunk-chunk, printing a crooked due date underneath a score of previous crooked due dates that belonged to other people, other times.
Those visits were dreamy, frictionless (没有摩擦的) periods that held the promise of leaving me richer than I’d arrived. It wasn’t like going to a store with my mom, which guaranteed a tug-of-war between what I wanted and what my mother was willing to buy me; in the library, I could have anything I wanted.
After we had finished checking out the books, I loved being in the car and having all the books we’d gotten stacked on my lap, pressing me under their solid, warm weight, their Mylar covers sticking a bit to my thighs. It was such a thrill leaving a place with things you hadn’t paid for; such a thrill expecting the new books we would read. On the ride home, my mother and I talked about the order in which we were going to read our books, a serious conversation in which we planned how to pace ourselves through this charmed period of grace until the books were due.
When I was older, I usually walked to the library by myself, lugging back as many books as I could carry. Occasionally, I did go with my mother, and the trip would be as engaging as it had been when I was small. Even when I was in my last year of high school and could drive myself to the library, my mother and I still went together every now and then, and the trip unfolded exactly as it had when I was a child, with all the same beats and pauses and comments and daydreaming, the same perfect rhythm we’d followed so many times before. After my mother passed away two years ago, I plunged into a deep shadow of grief for a long time. When I miss my mother these days, I like to picture us in the car together, going for one more magnificent trip to Bertram Woods, during which we talked, laughed ― as if she were still in my company, giving me inexhaustible strength
1. In this passage, the word “autonomy” (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to “__________.”| A．vitality | B．freedom | C．inspiration | D．entitlement |
| A．they would plan to read their newly-borrowed books with feverish enthusiasm |
| B．they would have a serious conversation about which book attracted them the most |
| C．they would be anxious to recommend to each other the books they had borrowed |
| D．they would agree on buying the books they had just borrowed if they enjoyed them |
| A．One specific memory of a childhood trip to the library. |
| B．The fond childhood memories of her mother taking good care of her. |
| C．How her affection for going to the library has endured into her own motherhood. |
| D．Why her own child made up their mind to become a librarian after finishing college. |
6 . Studying for Success: Born or Made?
“What are we to do?” Two Chinese parents asked helplessly, throwing their hands up in the air. With two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. earned by the couple from top universities in China, you would think that even if they couldn’t solve a problem, they might be able to find someone who could. So, what “problem” gave them so much trouble?
Their son, 10 years old, has been the center of their lives. They have thrown all of their resources into his education. They have taught him themselves and provided all kinds of extra tutorial classes, but to no avail. Their son continues to perform poorly in examinations, even though he studies very hard. Eventually, the mother accepted that her son is below average and said he may be able to live a comfortable life with an ordinary job.
Is the mother right?
I don’t think so. I have taught thousands of students before, and I can tell you with certainty that talent is not distributed evenly. What is talent? It is strictly defined as “natural skill,” but I would like to narrow that definition further: the speed with which one can master new skills. Some students simply learn material faster. But is your ability to learn limited by your talent from birth? I think the answer to that question is really up to you. If you do not learn as fast as your classmates, then you must study harder. For example, if you spend more time and effort improving your reading speed and comprehension, you will almost certainly be able to learn more over the course of your life from reading — if you continue to read books.
However, some would argue that if you tell a student that they are average, it will hurt their self-esteem. And low self-esteem could mean less motivation to learn. Research, however, has failed to show any relation between self-esteem and task performance. Instead, realizing his/her lack of talent may stimulate the child to put in more effort.
In the case of this student, the mother has accepted the fact that her son is average. But as far as I am concerned, as a role model for her son, she should continue to work hard, to show her son that being average is certainly no reason to be lazy — if anything, it should be a reason to work harder!
In learning, the work of a diligent fool doubles that of a lazy wit. So get cracking and you will do much better than that “lazy wit”!
1. According to the article, what has been troubling the couple?| A．They could not earn a Ph.D. even though they had studied very hard. |
| B．Their son doesn’t like to go to school and refuses to attend tutorial classes. |
| C．Their son doesn’t study hard at school and doesn’t do his homework at home. |
| D．Their son performs poorly at school even though they have spared no effort in trying to educate him. |
| A．is decided at birth |
| B．is equal throughout the population |
| C．can be improved through hard work |
| D．will keep at a certain level when they grow up |
| A．She should find a better teacher for her son. |
| B．She should spend more time helping her son with his studies. |
| C．She should accept the fact that her son is not good at studying. |
| D．She should inspire her son to put more effort into his schoolwork with her own hard work. |
| A．To tell the mother that she should set an example for her son. |
| B．To illustrate that most people’s ability to learn is below average. |
| C．To remind students that their ability to learn can be improved if they work hard. |
| D．To state that letting a child know his/her lack of talent will benefit him/her. |
7 . School Clubs or Sports?
bha8102
Asked July 20, 2020
I am a high school freshman. Should I participate in high school clubs or sports? By clubs I mean clubs like Habitat for Humanity or Math Team. I have heard that taking up a sport in 9th grade can help you get into a better college. I am equally interested in both.
Replies
southernbelle16
Answered July 21, 2020
Get involved with extracurricular clubs. Sports don’t matter that much unless you:
a) play one continuously for years;
b) are going to college to play sports.
Clubs that involved academics, volunteer work and leadership are excellent. If you have time to play sports, then do that as well. Colleges want well-rounded people.
thinkingtoohard
Answered July 21, 2020
If you’re looking to get into a highly competitive college, yes! I wish someone had told me freshman year that by the time I was a senior, I should have founded at least one club, been a leader in two others, and done tons of volunteer work. I might be exaggerating a little bit but you get the idea ... check out what students have done to get accepted into their colleges. But make sure that your clubs/sports fit your interests. College admissions officers can easily tell when they’re just fillers.
bha8102
Asked July 22, 2020
I am interested in sports but not good at them. What if I involve myself in a club I am interested in but don’t become officer?
Replies
@intparent
Answered July 22, 2020
One of my kids got accepted to every place she had applied to two years ago, and she had no “named” leadership positions. However, she was a very strong contributor in some team activities. Leadership isn’t always about standing in front of the room with a title. It can be about leading your team in terms of performance, for example, or in helping younger teammates make progress.
I think the leadership title positions are overrated in the college admissions process. Colleges don’t want “lone wolves” who can’t get along with others. They want students who are sincere, try the best to do the things that are important to them, and perform at a high level in the things that they set their minds to. Pick the things that you love and put a lot of effort into them. If you have good grades and test scores, the rest will follow.
1. The user bha8102 asked the question on the forum mainly to ______.| A．share his/her feelings about becoming a high school freshman |
| B．get information on what it takes to get into a competitive college |
| C．express his/her opinions on extracurricular activities in high school |
| D．ask for advice about how to choose between school clubs and sports |
| A．volunteer work | B．activities that you’re not really interested in |
| C．advice from upperclassmen | D．leadership in a club |
| A．every high school freshman should join in school clubs |
| B．college admissions officers often favor a club leader or team captain |
| C．high school students should put all their energy into grades and test scores |
| D．the experience you get from participating in school clubs is far more important than a leadership title |
8 . Up-skilling is the future - but it must work for everyone
Automation and job replacement will be one of the most significant challenges for the global economy of the coming decades. A 2017 Mckinsey report established that 375 million workers will need to switch occupational categories by 2030. The World Economic Forum suggests that by 2022, automation will replace 75 million jobs globally - but create 133 million new ones.
Research into the likelihood that a job will be impacted by digitization has largely focused on the "auto-matability" of the role and the following economic regional and political effects of this. What this research doesn't take into account is something more important for the millions of taxi drivers and retail workers across the globe: their likelihood of being able to change to another job that isn't automatable. Recent research suggests that the answer to this may be that the skills that enable workers to move up the ladder to more complex roles within their current areas might be less important than broader skills that will enable workers to change across divisions.
In July, Amazon announced that it would spend $700 million retraining around 30% of its 300,000 US workforce. While praiseworthy, it will be interesting to see the outcome. In the UK, the National Retraining Scheme has largely been led by employers, meaning that those on zero-hours contracts and part-time workers - often low-skilled --- will miss out. Governance will be a crucial element of ensuring that such schemes focus on individuals and life-long learning, rather than upskilling workers into roles that will soon also face automation.
According to the Mckinsey report, "growing awareness of the scale of the task ahead has yet to translate into action. Public spending on labour-force training and support has fallen for years in most member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development," which impacts more than just the low-skilled.
The global impact of automation is also put into relief by research demonstrating that, between 1988 and 2015, income inequality increased throughout the world. Billions of people do not have the essentials of life as defined by the UN Sustainable Development goals.
Alongside climate change, automation is arguably tech's biggest challenge. As with globalization, governments and employers -- and us workers -- ignore its potential consequences at risk to ourselves.
1. It can be known from Paragraph 2 that ________.| A．recent research has found ways to face automation |
| B．broad skills are of great significance in changing jobs |
| C．regional economy can affect the automatability of a job |
| D．it is even harder for workers to move up the social ladder |
| A．Supportive. | B．Critical | C．Doubtful | D．Sympathetic |
| A．Less spending on training | B．A slowdown of globalization |
| C．Social unrest and instability. | D．An increase in income inequality |
| A．argue the urgency of creating new jobs |
| B．compare globalization with automation |
| C．analyze the automatability of certain jobs |
| D．stress the important of upskilling workers |
9 . Papa, as a son of a dirt-poor farmer, left school early and went to work in a factory, for education was for the rich then. So, the world became his school. With great interest, he read everything he could lay his hands on, listened to the town elders and learned about the world beyond his tiny hometown. "There's so much to learn," he'd say. "Though we're born stupid, only the stupid remain that way." He was determined that none of his children would be denied an education.
Thus, Papa insisted that we learn at least one new thing each day. Though, as children, we thought this was crazy, it would never have occurred to us to deny Papa a request. And dinner time seemed perfect for sharing what we had learned. We would talk about the news of the day; no matter how insignificant, it was never taken lightly. Papa would listen carefully and was ready with some comment, always to the point.
Then came the moment—the time to share the day's new learning.
Papa, at the head of the table, would push back his chair and pour a glass of red wine, ready to listen.
"Felice," he'd say, "tell me what you learned today."
"I learned that the population of Nepal is ..."
Silence.
Papa was thinking about what was said, as if the salvation of the world would depend upon it. "The population of Nepal. Hmm. Well ..." he'd say. "Get the map; let's see where Nepal is." And the whole family went on a search for Nepal.
This same experience was repeated until each family member had a turn. Dinner ended only after we had a clear understanding of at least half a dozen such facts.
As children, we thought very little about these educational wonders. Our family, however, was growing together, sharing experiences and participating in one another's education. And by looking at us, listening to us, respecting out input, affirming our value, giving us a sense of dignity, Papa was unquestionably our most influential teacher.
Later during my training as a future teacher, I studied with some of the most famous educators. They were imparting what Papa had known all along - the value of continual learning. His technique has served me well all my life. Not a single day has been wasted, though I can never tell when knowing the population of Nepal might prove useful.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．The poor could hardly afford school education. |
| B．Those born stupid could not change their life. |
| C．The town elders wanted to learn about the world. |
| D．The author's father was born in a worker's family. |
| A．one new thing | B．a request | C．some comment | D．the news |
| A．enjoyed talking about news | B．knew very well about Nepal |
| C．appreciated his father's educational technique | D．felt regret about those wasted days |
| A．Showing talents | B．Continual learning |
| C．Family get-together | D．Winning Papa's approval |
10 . Car Hire
Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday. There are so many places of interest to visit, and if you enjoy seeing more than just the city center, there’s no better way to explore than by car.
Hire Charges
What are included
a) Unlimited mileage (英里数).
b) Expenses on oil, maintenance and repairs, which will be repaid on production of invoices (发票).
c) Full insurance except personal accident ( see below ) and contents.
What are not included
a) Personal accident insurance.
b) Garaging, petrol, parking and traffic fines.
Conditions of Hire
★ The shortest rental period at these special low prices is three days. For prices for periods of one or two days you only see our representative at the hotel.
★ Car hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee a car. But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance, please see our representative at the hotel who may still be able to help you.
★ The car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range, but a particular car cannot be guaranteed.
★ Upon delivery the driver(s) will be asked to sign the car hire company’s Conditions of Hire.
★ If you decide to hire a car, just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us. A booking fee of ￡12 as part of the car hire cost is required.
★ Should you be forced to cancel your car hire booking after payment in full (two weeks before date of hire) , a cancellation charge of £12 will be made.
1. From the advertisement we can see a car hirer will pay ______.| A．insurance against damage to the car | B．insurance against injury to the driver |
| C．the cost of maintenance of the car | D．the cost of repairs to the car |
| A．You have to pay parking fine yourself. |
| B．The company can’t provide all kinds of cars you need. |
| C．When you hire a car from the company, a driver will go together with you. |
| D．You have to pay a booking fee when you hire a car from the company. |
| A．partly returned | B．double paid |
| C．not returned at all | D．returned within six weeks |
| A．it is booked for at least three days | B．it is booked two weeks in advance |
| C．it is booked for two days | D．the booking is made in London |
