1 . Our carbon footprint is the estimated amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) given off as we go about our daily lives. While the global average carbon footprint is about 4 tons per person each year, Americans contribute approximately 20 tons of greenhouse gas per person each year. Compared to other countries, even those who use the least amount of energy in the US still contribute double the carbon emissions than the global average per person. And, not surprisingly, a person’s carbon footprint increases in size as his or her income increases.
How is it possible that people in the US who live simple lifestyles, e.g., children or the homeless, make such large contributions to greenhouse gas emissions? The answer is simple: Each US citizen has access to various basic government services such as firefighting and police departments, road and bridge repair, libraries, jails and prisons, the military, etc. When these public services are divided equally among the entire US population, it significantly raises the carbon footprint per person. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the lowest carbon footprint that can be calculated for a person living in the US is 8.5 tons. And shockingly, this carbon footprint corresponds to a homeless person who sleeps in public shelters and eats in soup kitchens.
While it is admirable to make changes in lifestyle to reduce a carbon footprint, in reality, it is very difficult to do. The MIT study revealed that a “rebound effect” occurred when someone made an effort to reduce his or her carbon footprint. Take the example of a person who made the deliberate choice to buy a hybrid car instead of a large SUV to save money on gas costs. Very often that person would use the money he or she saved to do something else, e.g., take a long airplane trip. In this case, just one long airplane trip produces more CO2 emissions than driving the large SUV for a year. This ends up having a negative impact on a person’s carbon footprint by making it bigger!
Can Americans reduce their carbon footprints? According to the study, it is possible, but it would require lifestyle changes such as giving up long-distance travel and buying fewer smartphones, tablets, and MP3 players that have large energy costs to produce and deliver. Another way to lower the average Americans US carbon footprint is to add a CO2 tax on food, housing, and transportation, and most Americans don’t want their taxes raised. Unless we can find a way to reduce our carbon footprints, the price we may ultimately have to pay is much higher than the amount Americans will ever have to pay in taxes.
1. The first two paragraphs are intended to____.| A．show why people in the US should live simple lifestyles |
| B．argue against the world’s misinterpretation of US lifestyles |
| C．reveal how big the carbon footprints of people in the US are |
| D．stress the impact of carbon footprints on American peoples life |
| A．Mary ate a large meal after she had been on diet for a week |
| B．Tom bought a hybrid car because it saved him a lot of money |
| C．Susan gave up long airplane trips to do her bit for the environment. |
| D．David had a good knowledge of what harm CO2 emissions would do. |
| A．Investment in basic government services should be reduced. |
| B．A homeless person’s carbon footprint is not easy to calculate. |
| C．The less a person spends, the more environmentally friendly he is. |
| D．A CO2 tax has already been added on food, housing and transportation. |
| A．How Can We Change Our Lifestyles? |
| B．Can We Make Our Footprints Smaller? |
| C．Why Are Our Carbon Footprints Important? |
| D．What Makes Contributions to Green house Gas Emissions? |
2 . We all have friends that need a little advice, but one of the problems with those types of conversations is that it’s really easy to come off as a know-it-all when you’re offering help. When you do that, nobody’s going to listen.
Obviously not everyone is looking for your advice. Before you go offering up your point of view, make sure they’re interested in hearing it. As Roger Gil points out, often friends aren’t looking for you to solve a problem. They just want you to listen and maybe ask some questions. So, ask if they’d like to hear your input or insights on a problem, but also ask questions about why thee feel a certain way. If they say “no”, let them finish their story and listen politely.
Speaking of listening. It’s also a good idea to figure out right away what your friends want from you. Gil describes this as differentiating between opinions, expert advice, and being a “sounding board”. Essentially, don’t pretend like you know something you don’t.
Now that you know whether or not your friends or family actually want your advice, it’s time to learn how to advise without sounding like a know-it-all. This is a lot harder than you might think. As Gil points out, one way to offer advice without sounding pretentious (自以为是的) is to avoid “You should” statements.
| A．Definitely don’t act like you’ve been in a situation you haven’t been in. |
| B．Different situations require different approaches so we need to know what we should contribute. |
| C．Gil also adds that even when you know the answer to something, you might want to keep your mouth shut. |
| D．Gil’s advice, seems obvious, but it’s incredibly easy to get on your high-horse and use “You should” if you’re not careful. |
| E．When you have a friend who’s stuck in trouble, it’s normal to want to provide some type of insight to get them out of it. |
| F．However, the key is to make sure you stay in “listening mode” for as long as possible, and you don’t push your advice when it isn’t wanted. |
3 . Problem-solving
Solving problems draws on two types of intelligence: crystal and fluid. Crystal intelligence involves using stored knowledge to answer questions of fact (e.g. what is the speed of light?), which relies on our ability to learn and remember information.
Fluid intelligence involves solving more creative problems, such as how to get a lion, a goat and a cabbage over a river in a single-passenger boat.
Complex problems, on the other hand, require a different approach, because the number of things you need to know and handle is greater than your consciousness brain can cope with.
The reason is that focusing attention on sequential computation, which is done by the brain’s left side, closes down areas of the right side that are concerned with taking a wider view.
| A．A chess move, for example, can lead to billions of outcomes. |
| B．Intense attention locks both sides of the brain into a particular pattern of activity. |
| C．This kind of intelligence has proven more difficult to understand. |
| D．Master players, by contrast, use their right side as well as their left. |
| E．As well as looking at problem from multiple angles, brilliant problem-solving involves dismissing bad options quickly. |
| F．We tend to work out simple problems—those involving just a few factors—methodically. |
4 . Waymo vehicles are testing so frequently in our neighborhood that we usually see four of them on our 15-minute dog walk. My daughter Carson likes Waymo because they look distinct. The fact that a robot is driving, however, fails to impress her. This is just the reality she has been born into.
Already Waymo vehicles are in motion for San Francisco to be the first major city with a driverless ride-hailing (打车服务) service.
Yet I remain doubtful, It’s not so much the technology. When I arranged for Waymo to pick up my family for a 20-minute test ride, the robot made no obvious mistakes. And in the “truly driverless” ride-hailing service Waymo has been operating for more than two years in Phoenix, it has yet to be involved in any major incidents. No, the reason these services aren’t widely available is mostly to do with the absence of a clear business model.
Back in 2014, Travis Kalanick, then-CEO of Uber, said the prospect of driverless cars posed an existential challenge to Uber. Human drivers account for two-thirds of the cost of an Uber journey, he reasoned, so “when there is no other human in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere is cheaper”.
Since then, it’s become clear that the economics are more complex. What made Uber so disruptive is the gig (零工) economy. The app serves nearly 100 million people each month in more than 10,000 cities, without Uber owning a single car. Its drivers are contractors, so it only pays them when they are carrying passengers. If the driver is waiting around at the airport, say, it’s not Uber’s problem. It has sophisticated software to match riders with drivers, and to do it quickly.
The driverless industry throws away these advantages. Instead of hiring drivers on the cheap, Waymo needs to build or purchase vehicles costing some $200, 000 apiece. Owning too many cars and they are wasting capital. Too few and they’ll be frustrating passengers with lengthy wait times. A driver also plays the role of conductor, ensuring the car is fueled and avoiding illegal activity. Driverless cars will have to be serviced and monitored to do the same thing. “Driverless does not mean humanless,” says Ashley Nunes, a researcher at MIT. His work on the subject has concluded that robotaxis can’t compete with the gig economy on price. “Robotaxis replace one set of human costs, the human driver, with another, inefficiency,” he adds.
When robotaxis finally open to the public in San Francisco, they risk becoming a gimmick (噱头). Fun to try, sure, but they’ll cost the same as an Uber, arrive no faster and decline to speed up when you’re in a rush.
1. What does the writer think of the technology of Waymo vehicles?| A．Reliable. | B．Imperfect. | C．Expensive. | D．Mysterious. |
| A．would be more and more complex |
| B．would lack a clear business model |
| C．would gain market share at the expense of Uber |
| D．would fail to win over Uber in ride-hailing services |
| A．Uber serves nearly 100 million people each month. |
| B．Uber allows its drivers to wait around at the airport. |
| C．Uber has a sophisticated software to manage its drivers. |
| D．Uber pays drivers only when they are carrying passengers. |
| A．The public in San Francisco don’t want to try robotaxis. |
| B．It is the gig economy that makes robotaxis lose their appeal. |
| C．Robotaxis don’t have the advantages they are thought to have. |
| D．Driverless vehicles can avoid illegal activity if programmed properly. |
5 . Huge health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries (老年医保受惠人). The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors—two primary care physicians and five specialists—in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don’t guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he’s reimbursed (返还费用). Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient’s disease. Combining this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately (任意地) cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U. S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results I emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally (最佳的) managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving students loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We’re at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them?
1. We learn from the passage that people tend to believe that ________.| A．the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cure |
| B．seeing more doctors may result in more diagnostic errors |
| C．visiting the same doctor on a regular basis ensures good health |
| D．the more doctors a patient sees, the better |
| A．increase their income by working overtime |
| B．improve their expertise and service |
| C．see more patients at the expense of quality |
| D．make various deals with specialists |
| A．Bridge the salary gap between specialist and primary care physicians. |
| B．Extend primary care to patients with chronic diseases. |
| C．Recruit more medical students by offering them loans. |
| D．Reduce the tuition of students who choose primary care as their major. |
| A．The Health Care in Trouble | B．The Imbalance System |
| C．The Declining Number of Doctors | D．The Ever-rising Health Care Costs |
6 . While some say school safety depends on guns, cameras or alarms in classrooms, Mark Gomer and Kristi Schiller think specially trained dogs should play an important role in preventing violence in schools.
Gomer’s for-profit company has sent a gun-and-drug detecting dog to patrol (巡查) the halls of an Ohio high school, while Schiller is launching a nonprofit program in Houston to give schools the trained dogs for free.
Gomer’s first full-time safety dog is a three-year-old Dutch shepherd named Atticus, who is reported to duty this school year at Oak Hills High School in Green Township in southwest Ohio. The dog was trained at the school before the summer break, said Gomer, co-owner of American Success Dog Training in Bridgetown, Ohio. Atticus has won over students, parents, teachers and district Superintendent Todd Yohey, who initially worried what people would think of him spending $10,000 on a dog. Gomer has talked to a lot of parents and faculty, and they are saying it was money well-spent, he said.
For her part Schiller is looking to provide safety dogs to schools free of charge. She hopes her new initiative, program “K9S4KIDS”, does for schools what her program “K9S4COPS” did for police departments. She has placed more than 60 dogs with agencies in three years. “These dogs are extremely social, yet highly qualified warriors that are accustomed to going straight to the source of a threat or shooter and disengaging the suspect armed with the weapon,” said Schiller.
As the programs get up and running, questions remain about possible health problems and distractions the dogs can cause.
A school safety expert said those are concerns parents and schools will have to work out. Ken Trump, president of the Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm, discussed the issue in general because he was not familiar with either program.
He said the dogs would have to be extremely social to deal with students’ initial excitement “Kids are going to like those dogs,” Trump said, “There are concerns to work around, but with the right dogs and right handler and the right policies and procedures, they should be very beneficial. The dog might be a distraction in the beginning, but they will become part of what students expect to see when they go to school.” “There is so much these dogs can do,” said Ted Dahlin, a deputy who serves on the K9S4COPS board of directors. “If I were going to pick a school to make trouble, it would be one that I knew didn’t have a dog.”
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Gomer’s program?| A．Atticus is only welcomed by students. |
| B．Atticus is provided to the schools free of charge. |
| C．The main job of Atticus is to patrol a school in Houston. |
| D．Parents and faculty think the money spent on Atticus is worthwhile. |
| A．dogs have a sharp sense of threat and danger |
| B．she is confident that the dogs are helpful in schools |
| C．dogs are a kind of helpful, loyal and qualified animal |
| D．even suspects armed with weapons are afraid of dogs |
| A．believes that dogs can be part of students’ school life |
| B．is a school safety expert supporting one of the programs |
| C．doesn’t approve of students’ attitudes about dogs in schools |
| D．agrees that the concerns outweigh the benefits of the program |
| A．he is not going to make trouble in schools |
| B．having a dog strengthens a school’s safety |
| C．he likes dogs and really wants to have one |
| D．more should be considered for planning a crime |
7 . Out of London Tours
Stratford, Oxford, Christ Church and the Cotswolds with Lunch
Length of time
About 10 hours
Days of operation
April 2009 to March 2010 — Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
This tour starts at 8:45 am and finishes at around 6:30 pm
Description
*Oxford
Enjoy the magnificence of Oxford! Well-known for over 900 years as a centre of academic excellence. Follow in the footsteps of its famous students, from Bill Clinton to Lewis Carroll. Uncover the university town of Oxford at a leisurely and relaxing pace.
*Chirlst Church
Lights, camera, action! A treat for all Harry Potter fans — see where many scenes from the films have been shot! Wonder at the magnificence of Christ Church, including the Great Hall which Hogwarts Hall is based upon.
*Cotswolds
Discover the fascinating Cotswolds! Full of history and heritage (历史遗留物), the Cotswolds is a charming combination of breathtaking natural beauty, busy market towns and sleepy villages.
Lunch in the Cotswolds
Treat yourself in a traditional English pub (酒吧) and admire the charrn of this old wool town. The lunch will bc taken in the Cotswolds village of Burford.
*Stratford
Shakespcare's birthplace
A market town with a difference! Visit Shakespeare's Birthplace, the half-wooded house, where the world's greatest writer was born, to gain a fascinating insight into his childhood.
Anne Hathaway's Cottage
Satisfy yourself with an eye-opening experience at the childhood home of William Shakespeare's wife! Wander around the half-wooded house and its eye-catching surroundings.
Price guide
Adult: £74.00
Child (3 — 18):£64.00
Senior citizen/ College student:£69.00
1. The Greens are planning to book the tour. They are Mr. and Mrs. Green, George Green, who is 15 years old, and Grandpa, who is 70 years of age. How much will they pay?| A．£ 296 | B．£ 286 | C．£ 281 | D．£ 276 |
| A．Cotswolds | B．Oxford | C．Stratford | D．Christ Church |
| A．You may eat in the Cotswolds village of Burford and then buy a woolen scarf. |
| B．You can book this tour as a Mother's Day gift for your mother in May 2010. |
| C．Shakespeare and his wife were born in the same town called Stratford. |
| D．Oxford University has a long history of more than 900 years. |
8 . Could your dog be prone to a fatal disease? Is your new shelter pup part beagle or boxer? Many pet owners seek answers to these questions, and as a result, direct-to-consumer dog DNA testing is booming.
Human interfering with dog DNA has long been the driving factor behind dogs’ breed diversity — or lack thereof. But a dog’s DNA can also be used to confirm their lineage (血统) or identify their breed, a boon for pet owners on the lookout for breed-specific health or behavioral challenges or those looking to confirm their dog really has the heritage claimed by a breeder or seller. During DNA analysis, labs sequence the dog’s DNA and look for similarities with a dataset of identified dog breeds.
But breed identification isn’t as simple as it might seem. In a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association last month, scientists looked into the accuracy of breed prediction in commercially available DNA tests that required a photo of the dog in addition to its DNA sample. The results were mixed, says Casey Greene, a professor who co-authored the study.
“Most tests could accurately distinguish the breed of purebred dogs,” says Greene. But the analysis suggested that some testing companies might rely on the photo more than the dog’s actual genetics — and revealed big differences between companies’ business practices and the genetic datasets they use to determine dog breeds.
The researchers submitted photos and DNA of 12 purebred dogs to a total of six commercial canine (犬的) ancestry identification services. Since each pup was purebred and possessed extensive American Kennel Club paperwork, the researchers knew their breed conclusively—but in some cases they provided a photo of a different dog to see if the photo influenced the DNA results. One of the companies misidentified a purebred Chinese crested dog — almost entirely hairless — as a long-haired Brittany spaniel, seemingly based on the photo alone. The other five did identify the registered breed correctly, but often gave different predictions for other “ancestor” breeds in dogs whose DNA suggested mixed breeding in prior generations. The researchers concluded that veterinarians and pet owners alike should “approach direct-to-consumer tests with caution” given the lack of industry standardization and at least one company’s reliance on photographs instead of DNA analysis.
Despite these concerns, though. dog DNA seems headed for a golden age — and the insights revealed through further study of Fido’s genome (基因组) have already reached far beyond the doghouse. Domesticated dogs have emerged as surprising superstars in medical research that benefits humans. According to researchers, that’s just the beginning. With implications ranging from entertaining to consequential, there’s no telling what dog DNA will continue to unleash.
1. The underlined word “boon” in paragraph two is closest in meaning to ________.| A．blessing | B．substitute | C．duty | D．struggle |
| A．it assists in accurately determining the breed a dog belongs to |
| B．it helps to predict whether dogs are subject to certain diseases |
| C．it provides pet owners with insights into dogs’ behavioral challenges |
| D．it sequences the DNA of identified dog breeds to find their similarities |
| A．Photos play a more significant role in identifying a dog’s breed than its actual genetics. |
| B．It is a common phenomenon that the DNA analysis of dogs may yield mixed results. |
| C．Commercial dog DNA tests still have limitations and should be dealt with cautiously. |
| D．Direct-to-consumer tests overshadow DNA analysis in identifying purebred dogs. |
| A．Controversies regarding its reliability are here to stay. |
| B．It is bound to make breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and entertainment. |
| C．It can step into a golden age as long as some research limitations are fixed. |
| D．It may have far-reaching significance and be applied to a wider range of areas. |
9 . 
Q: Should I target my Application to a specific Job Opening (JO)?
A: Yes. Naturally, a customized cover note will also help you focus on the key aspects of your Application that relate to the JO, but it is also in your interest to target the Application according to the responsibilities and competencies of the position.
Q: What’s the difference between duties and achievements?
A: Duties describe the specific responsibilities of your job. They accurately reflect what you are doing or have done in each of your previous jobs. In other words, it is the “what you do” of your job. Achievements describe in specific terms “how well” you did in your job.
Q: Many of my achievements are team-based, how do I draft them in my Application?
A: You should include your team-based achievements in your Application. Indicate that you were part of a team, and describe your specific role in reaching the goal.
FAQs on general Application guidelines
Q: Can I save my Application?
A: Yes. You should save your Application when you make changes and/or update it. It is recommended that you save different versions of your Application in Word format and then edit the Application online according to the post for which you are applying.
Q: Can I update my Application to apply for a new JO?
A: Yes. Each time you apply for a new JO, we recommend that you review your Application and update it, if appropriate, or target it to better reflect your suitability for the new JO. Your updates will not affect the content of Applications previously submitted against other JOs.
Q: Must I use up all the available characters in each section of my Application?
A: No. In fact, doing so may result in an unnecessary lengthy Application. Unless you have an enormous range of experiences, there is no reason to use up all the space given. Applicants are encouraged to list their duties and achievements in a clear and brief manner.
| A．I’ve developed various interests, ranging from oil painting to designing model. |
| B．I’m good at creating proposals for new product ideas aimed at a specific market. |
| C．I’m in charge of the clearance, production and distribution of information material. |
| D．I succeeded in directing a video presentation, assisting our group to win the first prize. |
| A．target your focus on your interest in the JO |
| B．save your latest application in Word format |
| C．prepare one application with all your competencies |
| D．update your application to match new requirements |
| A．introduce what JOs they have previously applied to |
| B．list the greatest achievements they have made in detail |
| C．give key information about their experiences and achievements |
| D．provide the results of their tests, assessments and examinations |
10 . Crazy Laws
It seems that the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was right when he said, “Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered.”
Did you know, for example, that London taxis (officially called Hackney carriages) are still legally required to carry hay and oats for their horses to eat? And in England, it is illegal to stand within 100 yards (91 metres) of the queen, without wearing socks?
If you live in Scotland, however, it’s important to know that if someone knocks at the door of your house, and needs to use your toilet, you are legally required to let him in.
Lots of the craziest laws seem to involve animals.
Last, children are forbidden from going to school with their breath smelling of wild onions in West Virginia. And in Arkansas, teachers who have a certain hairc ut (a bob) will not be given a pay-rise. In Florida, a woman can be fined for falling asleep under the hair-dryer and unmarried women must not parachute on a Sunday. If they do, they might be arrested, receive a fine or be put in jail.
| A．But if you are Scottish you should stay away from the city of York. |
| B．Never should a Scotsman leave his own country. |
| C．But strange laws don’t just exist in the UK. |
| D．England is the place where craziest laws have been in existence for centuries. |
| E．Laws in some parts of the world haven’t changed for centuries. |
| F．In Hollywood, it is illegal to take more than 2,000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at any one time. |
