1 . Is Paperless Office Really Paperless?
A rising economy increased paper sales by 6 to 7 percent each year in the early to mid-1990s, and the convenience of desktop printing allowed office workers to indulge anything and everything. In 2004, Ms. Dunn, a communications supplies director, said that plain white office paper would see less than a 4 percent growth rate, a primary reason for which is that some 47 percent of the workforce entered the job market after computers had already been introduced to offices.
For office innovators, the dream of paperless office is an example of high-tech arrogance（傲慢）. Today’s office service is overwhelmed By more newspapers than ever before. After decades of development, the American government can finally get rid of the madness on paper. In the past, the demand for paper has been far ahead of growth in the American economy, but the sales have slowed markedly over the past two to three years, despite the good economic conditions.
“Old habits are hard to break,” says Ms. Dunn. “There are some functions that paper serves where a screen display doesn’t work. Those functions are both its strength and its weakness.” Analysts attribute the decline to such factors as advances in digital databases and communication systems. Escaping our craving for paper, however, will be anything but an easy affair.
“We’re finally seeing a reduction in the amount of paper being used per worker in the workplace,” says John Maine, vice president of a paper economic consulting firm. “More information is being transmitted electronically, and an increasing number of people are satisfied that information exists only in electronic form without printing multiple backups.”
To reduce paper use, some companies are working to combine digital and paper capabilities. For example, Xerox is developing electronic paper: thin digital displays that respond to a stylus, like a pen on paper. Marks can be erased or saved digitally. Even with such technological advances, the increasing amounts of electronic data necessarily require more paper.
“The information industry today is composed of a thin paper crust surrounding an electronic core,” Mr. Saffo wrote. The growing paper crust is most noticeable, but the hidden electronic core is far larger and growing more rapidly. The result is that we are becoming paperless, but we hardly notice at all. “That’s one of the greatest ironies of the information age,” Saffo says. “It’s just common sense that the more you talk to someone by phone or computer, it inevitably leads to a face-to-face meeting. The best thing for the aviation industry was the Internet.”
1. Which of the following statements is NOT a reason for the slowdown in American paper sales?| A．Workforce with better computer skills. |
| B．Slow growth of the U.S. economy. |
| C．Changing patterns in paper use. |
| D．Changing employment trends. |
| A．We have to look at paper consumption from different angles. |
| B．There is little chance that paper consumption will fall in the digital age. |
| C．Paper consumption will be greatly reduced in the digital age. |
| D．People are no longer so addicted to paper in the digital age. |
| A．the intergration of digital technology with traditional paper |
| B．the chance from traditional paper to digital technology |
| C．the combination of the use of computer screens and cell phones |
| D．a new type of computer writing and communication |
| A．The dream of the paperless office will be realized some day. |
| B．People usually prefer to have face-to-face meetings instead of using computers. |
| C．More digital data use leads to greater paper use in the digital time. |
| D．Some people are no longer opposed to video-conferencing. |
2 . James Gross, a psychology professor at Stanford University, has a 13-year-old daughter who loves math and science. “It hasn’t occurred to her yet that’s unusual,” he says. “But I know in the next couple of years, it will.”
She’s already being pulled out of class to do advanced things with a couple of other kids, who are guys. And as someone who studies human emotion for a procession, Gross says, “I know as time goes on, she will feel increasingly lonely as a girl who’s interested in math and science, and be at risk of narrowing her choices in life before finding out how far she could have gone.’’
Gross’ concern clearly shows what has been a touchy subject in the world of science for a long time: Why are there still so few women in science, and how might that affect what we learn from research?
Women now make up half the national workforce, earn more college and graduate degrees than men, and by some estimates represent the largest single economic force in the world. Yet the gender gap in science persists, to a greater degree than in other professions, particularly in high-end, math-intensive fields such as computer science and engineering.
According to US Census Bureau statistics, women in fields commonly referred to as STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) made up 7 percent of that workforce in 1970, a figure that had jumped to 23 percent by 1990. But the rise essentially stopped there. Two decades later, in 2011, women made up 26 percent of the science workforce.
1. According to James Gross, in the near future his daughter may .| A．become a great scientist |
| B．feel lonely and have fewer choices |
| C．be pulled out of class with some guys |
| D．learn math and science better and better |
| A．women are cleverer than men in college |
| B．men represent the largest single economic force |
| C．women make up more than 50% of the national workforce |
| D．the number of women graduating from college is larger than that of men |
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comments. |
| C．By following time order. |
| D．By explaining the process. |
| A．Why It Is Important to Get More Women Into Science |
| B．James Gross, Confusion About His daughter |
| C．Situation of Women in the Whole Country |
| D．Future of women in the Workforce |
Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there’s a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those scheduled lessons and activities away. “Relaxing time is important for children. It’s time just to do the things they want to do. A child can go up to their room, or they can play around. It doesn’t look like productive time; parents certainly wouldn’t be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day. It helps a child prepare for sleep, but it also helps to understand the learning that’s gone on that day.”
It’s hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons. After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that. However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them. “When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we’re doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill.” So choose your children’s activities wisely. It may be one of the best things you’ve ever done for your kids… and for the family drivers!
1. What is the biggest disadvantage for children to attend too many lessons after school?
| A．They can get bored easily about everything. |
| B．They might have no time to do the homework. |
| C．They might not pay much attention to learning. |
| D．They cannot easily focus on learning during the day. |
| A．It is productive. | B．It is helpful. | C．It is a bad habit. | D．It is a waste of time. |
| A．Because children have no time. |
| B．Because children cannot learn many things. |
| C．Because children do not have enough sleep. |
| D．Because children cannot focus on too many activities. |
| A．Don’t be children’s drivers after school. |
| B．Choose activities for your children wisely. |
| C．Make your children learn as much as possible. |
| D．Let children learn something from various subjects. |
4 . The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a relatively short life span as well as a very high death rate. Only a few, including Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Latin, have lasted more than 2,000 years.
What is new, however, is the speed at which they are dying out. Europe's colonial conquests caused a sharp decline in linguistic diversity, eliminating at least 15 percent of all languages spoken at the time. Over the last 300 years, Europe has lost a dozen, and Australia has only 20 left of the 250 spoken at the end of the 18th century.
The rise of nation-states has also been decisive in selecting and consolidating national languages and sidelining others. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media and the civil service, national governments have deliberately tried to eliminate minority languages.
This process of linguistic standardization has been boosted by industrialization and scientific progress, which have imposed new methods of communication that are swift, straightforward and practical. Language diversity came to be seen as an obstacle to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism became an ideal.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have intensified the threat to “small” languages. A language not on the Internet is a language that “no longer exists'' in the modern world. It is out of the game.
The serious effects of the death of languages are evident. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural capacity for linguistic inventiveness. We would never be able to figure out the origins of human language or resolve the mystery of "the first language". As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Multilingualism is the most accurate reflection of multiculturalism. The destruction of the first will inevitably lead to the loss of the second. Imposing a language without any links to a people's culture and way of life stifles the expression of their collective genius. A language is not only used for the main instrument of human communication. It also expresses the world vision of those who speak it, their ways of using knowledge. To safeguard languages is an urgent matter.
1. Which of the following does not contribute to the death of languages?| A．Colonial conquests of Europe |
| B．The boom of human population |
| C．Advances in science and industrialization |
| D．The rise of nation-states |
| A．boosts | B．fuels |
| C．imposes | D．kills |
| A．People would fail to understand how languages originated |
| B．Language diversity would become an obstacle to globalization |
| C．Monolingualism would lead to the loss of multiculturalism |
| D．Human brains would become less creative linguistically |
| A．To explain the reasons why languages are dying out. |
| B．To warn people of the negative aspects of globalization. |
| C．To call people's attention to the urgency of language preservation. |
| D．To argue how important it is for people to speak more languages. |
5 . Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman
Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on.
Austen’s popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters. Here’s my own suggestion.
It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.
“My dear husband,” said his hopeful wife one day, “have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman?”
Her dull and indifferent (漠不关心的) husband replied that he had not. “But it is, it is,” she replied excitedly. Mr Dull-Husband made no reply.
“Don’t you want to know her plans?” she cried with some impatience.
“Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head... so I’d better listen.”
“Well, my dear, the rumour (传言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though how a woman can know anything about that is beyond me. She will move in herself next month.” “What is her name?” “Bingley.”
“Is she married or single?”
“What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys.” “How so? How can it possibly affect them?”
“My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going.”
“Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place.”
“Nonsense, my love, how little you’ve noticed the world has changed. She’s got a first-rate degree and some sort of business qualification, I’m told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call.”
“Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job.” “Oh, that’s not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I’ll go along all the same.”
And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSE-listed company.
...It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more “female” dimension and her lifespan (年限) among the city’s business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she’d no doubt have enjoyed Davos — and might even have hobnobbed (攀谈) with influential figures.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?| A．Austen was born 200 years ago. |
| B．Austen rewrote Pride and Prejudice. |
| C．Austen’s success lies in her wisdom. |
| D．Austen’s updated work gains popularity. |
| A．had mixed feelings of admiration and surprise about Bingley |
| B．felt kind of worried and doubtful about Bingley |
| C．was extremely anxious to meet Bingley |
| D．had a great curiosity about Bingley |
| A．get married to | B．work for her |
| C．help her move in | D．take over her store |
| A．Women with brains can also be as successful as men. |
| B．Women have to pay a high price for success. |
| C．A judgment must be made free from prejudice. |
| D．Sex discrimination still exists nowadays. |
It’s easy to find reasons to allow some physical punishments. One issue is that many parents find it very difficult to abandon physical punishment completely. Parents argue that this was the way they were brought up and that it didn’t do any harm to them. They believe that for the child’s sake they have the right to discipline the child in any way they consider fit, including using some physical punishments. The other one is that physical punishment can be quick and effective. There is not much point reasoning with a screaming child in the supermarket.
However, there are several reasons why we should stop using physical punishment. One point is that most parents are not trained to deal with misbehaving children. They don’t have enough resources or choices to handle the situation. As a result, they immediately react by hitting the child even if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is that unless people are challenged or forced to change their belief, they may keep following negative habits. An example is seat belt use —now most people wear seat belts without thinking, while years ago the idea of using seat belts was strange to most people. In the same way, banning physical punishment will force people to change their habits.
In conclusion, parents have to change some of their belief and ideas about how children should be raised. It is possible to avoid the use of physical force, and doing so will help us move closer to the dream of removing violence from our society.
1. According to the first paragraph, many parents think that ____________.
| A．they are free to use physical punishment on their children |
| B．most of the children behave badly in their daily life |
| C．they have changed their attitudes towards their children |
| D．physical punishment is effective to educate their children |
| A．they are disappointed with their children |
| B．they were brought up just in the same way |
| C．they don’t want to hurt their children badly |
| D．they don’t know what to do with their children |
| A．most people are used to wearing seat belts |
| B．it’s not difficult to change some negative habits |
| C．seat belts are really very necessary and useful |
| D．people won’t change their old habits unless forced |
| A．talk about a ban on using physical punishment |
| B．tell us we should educate our children in other ways |
| C．advise parents to give up using physical punishment |
| D．suggest physical punishment should be used at home |
I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently --- one who works for you. In fact, he’s one of your best reporters. He wants to leave.
Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume(简历) and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you. The headlines showed you played them proudly. With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues(问题), approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best. I’m sure you would hate to lose him. Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy. In fact, he told me he really likes his job. He has a great assignment (分工), and said you run a great paper. It would be easy for you to keep him, he said. He knows that the paper values him. He appreciates the responsibility you’ve given him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom.
So why is he looking for a way out?
He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him. He wants to be pushed, challenged, coached to new heights.
The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is.
He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones. He wants someone to get excited about what he’s doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it. He wants to be more valuable for your paper. That’s what you want for him, too, isn’t it?
So your reporter has set me thinking.
Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists --- everyone --- is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential. If we can’t do it, they’ll find someone who can.
1. What does the writer think of the reporter?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Imaginative. | C．Ambitious. | D．Proud. |
| A．Finding the news value of his stories. | B．Giving him financial support. |
| C．Helping him to find issues. | D．Improving his good ideas. |
| A．An editor. | B．An artist. | C．A reporter. | D．A reader. |
| A．keep their best reporters at all costs |
| B．give more freedom to their reporters |
| C．be aware of their reporters’ professional development |
| D．appreciate their reporters’ working styles and attitudes |
University tuition fees (学费) are currently capped at £3,000 annually, but this will be reviewed next year and the Government is under enormous pressure to raise the ceiling.
In the researeh, the teenagers were presented with die terms of four different loans but 76 per cent failed to identify the cheapest. The young people also predicted that they would be earning on average £ 31.000 by the age of 25, although the average salary for those aged 22 to 29 is just £ 17,815. The teenagers expected to be in debt when they finished university or training, although half said that they assumed the debts would be less than £ 10.000. Average debts for graduates are £ 12，363.
Stephen Moir, head of community investment at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which owns NatWest, said. "The more exposed young people are to financial issues, and the younger they become aware of them, the more likely they are to become responsible, forward-planning adults who manage their finances confidently and effectively."
Ministers are deeply concerned about the financial pressures on teenagers and young people because of student loans and rising housing costs. They have just introduced new lessons in how to manage debts. Nikki Fairweathcr. aged 15. from St Helens, said that she had benefited from lessons on personal finance, but admitted that she still had a lot to learn about money.
1. Which of the following can be found from the five-year researeh project?
| A．Students understand personal finances differently. |
| B．University tuition fees in England have been rising. |
| C．Teenagers tend to overestimate their future earnings. |
| D．The students' payback ability has become a major issue. |
| A．to raise the student loans | B．to improve the school facilities |
| C．to increase the upper limit of the tuition | D．to lift the school building roofs |
| A．are too young 10 be exposed 10 financial issues |
| B．should learn 10 manage their finances wellC- should maintain a positive attitude when facing loans |
| C．benefit a lot from lessons on personal finance |
| A．Many British teenagers do not know money matters well |
| B．Teenagers in Britain are heavily burdened with debts. |
| C．Financial planning is a required course at college. |
| D．Young people should become responsible adults. |
9 . One might expect that the ever-growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive the holiday-makers. Indeed, a rosy picture is painted for the long-term future of the holiday industry. Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere, and every month another rock-bound Pacific island is advertised as the “last paradise(天堂) on earth”.
However, the scale and speed of this growth seem set to destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy. In those countries where there was a rush to make quick money out of sea-side holidays, over-crowded beaches and the concrete jungles of endless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.
Those countries with little experience of tourism can suffer most. In recent years, Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health and education. Its forests, full of wildlife and rare flowers, were offered to tourists as one more untouched paradise. In fact, the nature all too soon felt the effects of thousands of holiday-makers traveling through the forest land. Ancient tracks became major routes for the walkers, with the consequent exploitation of precious trees and plants.
Not only the environment of a country can suffer from the sudden growth of tourism. The people as well rapidly feel its effects. Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports; the old way of life goes. The one-time farmer is now the servant of some multi-national organization; he is no longer his own master. Once it was his back that bore the pain; now it is his smile that is exploited. No doubt he wonders whether he wasn't happier in his village working his own land.
Thankfully, the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers. The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and in fact obtain financial support from tourist companies. At the same time, tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.
The way tourism is handled in the next ten years will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit. Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies. Increased understanding in planning world-wide tourism can preserve the market for these companies. If not, in a few years’ time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed.
1. What does the author indicate in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?| A．The Pacific island is a paradise. |
| B．The Pacific island is worth visiting. |
| C．The advertisement is not convincing. |
| D．The advertisement is not impressive |
| A．its natural resources are untouched. |
| B．its forests are exploited for farmland |
| C．it develops well in health and education. |
| D．it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists. |
| A．They are happy to work their own lands. |
| B．They have to please the tourists for a living. |
| C．They have to struggle for their independence. |
| D．They are proud of working in multi-national organizations. |
| A．The number of tourists |
| B．The improvement of services. |
| C．The promotion of new products. |
| D．The management of tourism |
10 . As has been all too apparent in recent days at Balcombe, few issues cause greater concern than energy policy. Many village communities feel their countryside is being ruined by the power-producing machines of wind farms; yet they never take “ direct action”, even though the planning laws put them at a severe disadvantage. And the generous subsidies(财政补贴),which encourage the expansion of wind power, are not favorable to the village communities and set landowners in conflict with other residents.
Those who disagree with the rapid expansion of wind farms state that the damage they cause is out of proportion to the benefits they bring, because their energy output cannot match that of the carbon-based power stations they are supposed to replace. Supporters insist that wind must be part of a mix of renewables, nuclear and carbon, and that the country is committed to meeting EU(European Union) targets for non-carbon energy generation.
Against this background, the fact that there is an argument within the Government over whether to publish an official report on wind farms impact on the countryside becomes even more extraordinary. The two parties in the coalition government are in disagreement over what it should say.
We have some advice for the two parties :publish the report ,and let the country be the judge. Even if it contains evidence that wind farms are harmful, it will hardly be a pleasant surprise to people who do not like them. Equally, supporters must argue their case by acknowledging the concerns and explaining why they are either misplaced or worthy of much attention.
The suggestion that further negotiations are to take place to produce an “acceptable” report suggests that the politics of coalition government are doing the country harm in a certain way. Given the sensitivities involved ,all the information should be available so that people can reach their own conclusions, rather than being left with the suspicion that facts are being replaced by political beliefs.
1. We call learn from the first paragraph that________.| A．energy policy catches much attention of the public |
| B．the residents are in favor of the expansion of wind farms |
| C．many village communities are satisfied with the subsidies |
| D．the planning laws offer great benefits to the residents |
| A．is more rapid than that of carbon-based power |
| B．guarantees an increase in energy output |
| C．is expected to be much better than that of nuclear Dower |
| D．agrees with EU targets for non-carbon energy generation |
| A．an official report will settle the energy problem |
| B．the two parties are divided over the issue of wind farms |
| C．the two parties have agreed on a further negotiation |
| D．political beliefs concerning energy issue go against facts |
| A．Increase political impact on energy policy. |
| B．Release a statement of supporters on wind farms. |
| C．Let the nation judge the facts about wind power. |
| D．Leave the two parties to reach their own conclusions. |
