1 . 假定你是学校音乐俱乐部的负责人李华,上周俱乐部举行了一场留学生(international students)乐器比赛,请为本周三的颁奖仪式写一篇英文发言稿。内容包括:
1. 表示祝贺;
2. 回顾比赛;
3. 你的期望。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . On March 7, 1907, the English statistician Francis Galton published a paper which illustrated what has come to be known as the “wisdom of crowds” effect. The experiment of estimation he conducted showed that in some cases, the average of a large number of independent estimates could be quite accurate.
This effect capitalizes on the fact that when people make errors, those errors aren’t always the same. Some people will tend to overestimate, and some to underestimate. When enough of these errors are averaged together, they cancel each other out, resulting in a more accurate estimate. If people are similar and tend to make the same errors, then their errors won’t cancel each other out. In more technical terms, the wisdom of crowds requires that people’s estimates be independent. If for whatever reasons, people’s errors become correlated or dependent, the accuracy of the estimate will go down.
But a new study led by Joaquin Navajas offered an interesting twist (转折) on this classic phenomenon. The key finding of the study was that when crowds were further divided into smaller groups that were allowed to have a discussion, the averages from these groups were more accurate than those from an equal number of independent individuals. For instance, the average obtained from the estimates of four discussion groups of five was significantly more accurate than the average obtained from 20 independent individuals.
In a follow-up study with 100 university students, the researchers tried to get a better sense of what the group members actually did in their discussion. Did they tend to go with those most confident about their estimates? Did they follow those least willing to change their minds? This happened some of the time, but it wasn’t the dominant response. Most frequently, the groups reported that they “shared arguments and reasoned together”. Somehow, these arguments and reasoning resulted in a global reduction in error. Although the studies led by Navajas have limitations and many questions remain, the potential implications for group discussion and decision-making are enormous.
1. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?A.The methods of estimation. | B.The underlying logic of the effect. |
C.The causes of people’s errors. | D.The design of Galton’s experiment. |
A.the crowds were relatively small | B.there were occasional underestimates |
C.individuals did not communicate | D.estimates were not fully independent |
A.The size of the groups. | B.The dominant members. |
C.The discussion process. | D.The individual estimates. |
A.Unclear. | B.Dismissive. | C.Doubtful. | D.Approving. |
音乐改变我的生活。内容包括:
1. 讲述你生活中的挫折或困惑;
2. 讲述音乐如何帮助你走出困境。
注意:
1. 写作词数应为100字左右;
2. 写作需具备符合演讲稿范式的开头和结尾;
3. 标题自拟。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“I don’t think anyone is going to send you money, Jessica. People just aren’t that kind.” said my mother. I was shocked by such a comment. “But you’re wrong. People are kind and they will be generous enough to send me money.” I argued.
Last fall, I sent 200 letters to businesses, doctors and friends asking for sponsorship so I could attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine. everyone doubted my efforts, and I heard every excuse why people would be too busy to help me. “These people don’t even know you. Do you honestly think a stranger will send you money?” asked my friends. “Why put yourself through all this disappointment? Just forget it.” said my grandfather. I decided not to listen. The best thing I could do was to attend the Forum and learn more about my future career.
I waited weeks for my first response, which came from a bank. “Dear Jessica,” it read. “At this time. Our bank does not offer aid to students, but we wish you luck and success in your project.” My heart sank. I was rejected. I looked at my grandpa. “Well?” he asked. He should have been able to tell from my disappointed face. “ Here, ” I said, as I handed him the letter and locked myself in my room. But then I realized what I was doing. “It’s only one rejection,” I said to myself, “Cheer up. You will receive a letter with a check in it.”
注意:
续写词数应为150左右;
请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1:
I rushed home from school every day the next two weeks.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
But one day, I came home and heard five beautiful words: Jessica, you have two letters.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was invited to a cookout on an old friend’s farm in western Washington. I parked my car outside the farm and walked past a milking house which had apparently not been used in many years. A noise at a window caught my attention, so I entered it. It was a hummingbird (蜂鸟), desperately trying to escape. She was covered in spider-webs (蛛网) and was barely able to move her wings. She ceased her struggle the instant I picked her up.
With the bird in my cupped hand, I looked around to see how she had gotten in. The broken window glass was the likely answer. I stuffed a piece of cloth into the hole and took her outside, closing the door securely behind me.
When I opened my hand, the bird did not fly away; she sat looking at me with her bright eyes. I removed the sticky spider-webs that covered her head and wings. Still, she made no attempt to fly. Perhaps she had been struggling against the window too long and was too tired? Or too thirsty?
As I carried her up the blackberry-lined path toward my car where I kept a water bottle, she began to move. I stopped, and she soon took wing but did not immediately fly away.
Hovering (悬停), she approached within six inches of my face. For a very long moment, this tiny creature looked into my eyes, turning her head from side to side. Then she flew quickly out of sight.
During the cookout, I told my hosts about the hummingbird incident. They promised to fix the window. As I was departing, my friends walked me to my car. I was standing by the car when a hummingbird flew to the center of our group and began hovering. She turned from person to person until she came to me. She again looked directly into my eyes, then let out a squeaking call and was gone. For a moment, all were speechless. Then someone said, “She must have come to say goodbye.”
注意:1. 续写词数应为 150 左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
A few weeks later, I went to the farm again.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was just about to leave when the hummingbird appeared.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 去城郊的山上游览;
2. 有人想乘公交车前往,有人想步行,最后决定骑自行车;
3. 描写风景和感受。 注意:
1. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
2. 开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Tom,
How happy I am to receive your last email, in which
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes.
Yours,
Li Hua
注意:1.文章的开头已给出,不计入总字数;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯,词数100左右。
Good morning, everyone!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was the middle of the day on a bright sunny Saturday, and Jay and his friends Mike and Tony were riding their dirt bikes on one of their favorite off-road trails. The trail twisted and turned through some incredible small woods. Occasionally they would stop to climb a tree and find a comfortable branch to sit on so they could take a break from riding in the heat.
On this particular day, the three kids were settled in one of their preferred trees when Jay spotted something shiny on the ground. “What could that be?” he asked Mike and Tony as he pointed out the object reflecting the sun.
They all hopped down from their individual branches and went to take a closer look. What they found was unbelievable. It was a gold money clip ( 夹子) holding five hundred dollars.
Mike immediately cried out, “Awesome! We can split up the money, and we will each be much closer to being able to buy the new bikes we want.”
“Not so fast,” said Tony. “Jay was the one who spotted the cash. To be fair, he should get more.”
“Are you guys crazy?” asked Jay. “We can’t keep the money. It isn’t ours. Aren’t we more mature than to play finders keepers like we did when we were kids?”
“Stop being such an advocate for honesty,” complained Mike and Tony.
“Let’s all go home and think about this,” said Jay, knowing that he could have made the call because he was the one who spotted the money clip in the first place.
Mike and Tony agreed to Jay’s suggestion. Jay kept the money and they all rode their bikes home. They decided to meet up after dinner at the head of the off-road trail.
Mike and Tony lived on the same street so they rode home most of the way together. They were able to talk a bit more without Jay’s input. The more they talked, the more they came to see Jay’s point.
注意:
1. 续写词数应为 150 左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After dinner, as agreed, the three kids met back up.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next morning, Jay received a phone call asking him to go to the police station.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.推迟原因;
2.备赛安排;
3.表达期待。注意:
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Michael,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that offends our sense of justice. A business may maximize the amount of money it makes by damaging the environment and hurting people. When government regulation is effective, and the public is environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty ones, but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and the public doesn’t care.
It is easy to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. But blaming alone is unlikely to produce change. It ignores the fact that businesses are not charities but profit-making companies, and they are under obligation to maximize profits for shareholders by legal means.
Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating the conditions that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies. In the long run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable.
The public can do that by accusing businesses of harming them. The public may also make their opinion felt by choosing to buy sustainably harvested products; by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record; and by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices.
In turn, big businesses can exert powerful pressure on any suppliers that might ignore public or government pressure. For instance, after the US public became concerned about the spread of a disease, transmitted to humans through infected meat, the US government introduced rules demanding that the meat industry abandon practices associated with the risk of the disease spreading. But the meat packers refused to follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey. However, when a fast-food company made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers dropped, the meat industry followed immediately. The public’s task is therefore to identify which links in the supply chain are sensitive to public pressure.
Some readers may be disappointed or outraged that I place the ultimate responsibility for business practices harming the public on the public itself. I also believe that the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs of sound environmental practices. My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits. But I think we have to recognize that, throughout human history, government regulation has arisen precisely because it was found that not only did moral principles need to be made explicit, they also needed to be enforced.
My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish. I believe that changes in public attitudes are essential for changes in businesses’ environmental practices.
1. The main idea of Paragraph 3 is that environmental damage__________.A.is the result of ignorance of the public |
B.requires political action if it is to be stopped |
C.can be prevented by the action of ordinary people |
D.can only be stopped by educating business leaders |
A.reduce their own individual impact on the environment |
B.learn more about the impact of business on the environment |
C.raise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters |
D.influence the environmental policies of businesses and governments |
A.Meat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast-food chains. |
B.Meat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses. |
C.A fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law. |
D.A fast-food company encouraged the government to introduce regulations. |
A.Will the world survive the threat caused by big businesses? |
B.How can big businesses be encouraged to be less driven by profit? |
C.What environmental dangers are caused by the greed of businesses? |
D.Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause to the environment? |