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.

2. The author mentions the study by Catalyst to illustrate __________.

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.

3. Norway's adoption of a nationwide corporate gender quota has led to __________.

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.

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

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 . Financial regulations in Britain have imposed a rather unusual rule on the bosses of big banks. Starting next year, any guaranteed bonus of top executives could be delayed 10 years if their banks are under investigation for wrongdoing. The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers responsible for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institution. Yet officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long-term decision-making not only by banks but also by all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.

“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded companies, says the Bank of England’s top economist, Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical economies, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “Children who pick the strawberries out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.

The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient(短期的) investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hold back a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty. This has been called “quarterly capitalism”.

In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities( 股 票 ), quicker use of information, and thus shortens attention spans in financial markets. “There seems to be an advantage of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said Commissioner Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in speech this week.

In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to delay performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short-termism.” In its latest survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “a substantial part” of executive pay is now tied to performance.

Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism,” such as changes in the tax code and quicker disclosure(披露) of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.

Within companies, the right compensation design can provide motivation for executives to think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all shareholders. Britain’s new rule is a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term but for the long term.

1. According to Paragraph 1, one reason for imposing the new rule is the _______.

A．enhance banker’s sense of responsibility

B．help corporations achieve larger profits

C．build a new system of financial regulation

D．guarantee the bonuses of top executives

2. It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies can be _______.

A．indirect	B．negative
C．favorable	D．temporary

3. The US and France examples in paragraphs 5 and 6 are used to illustrate_______.

A．the obstacles to preventing “short-termism”.

B．the significance of long-term thinking.

C．the approaches to promoting “long-termism”

D．the popularity of short-term thinking.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Failure of Quarterly Capitalism

B．Patience as a Corporate Virtue

C．Decisiveness Required of Top Executives

D．Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

New E-Commerce Law Takes Effect

China’s new e-commerce law, which was passed last August, took effect on January 1. The law comes amid the rapid development of China into the world’s largest e-commerce market.

The law aims to regulate the market and create a sound     1     environment. It covers the requirement for registration and licensing of e-commerce operators, taxation, electronic payment, etc. It also     2     other important aspects of e-commerce, including false advertising, consumer protection, data protection, intellectual property and cybersecurity.

The new law will apply to three types of operators. These include e-commerce     3     operators like Taobao, third-party merchants who sell goods and services on e-commerce platforms, and online vendors (供应商) who do business via other network     4    , such as social media sites. It means that merchants who sell goods through non-traditional e-commerce platforms, such as WeChat, will fall under the new law. These sellers will now need to finish their business registration and pay     5     taxes.

The law will make all e-commerce platform operators     6     responsible with the merchants for selling any fake or knock-off goods on their websites. Before the law took effect, individual merchants were solely responsible when caught selling liable (负有偿付责任的) goods.

The implementation of the law may bring     7     on online retail (零售) companies and merchants selling goods through social media sites. Many private shopping agents (known as daigou) are considering whether to continue the service under the new policy since it will increase the management cost and lead to a rise in the product price.

But the new law does not aim to     8     small to medium sized online retailer. Instead, it helps lay the legal foundation for the growth of the e-commerce business industry,     9     order in the market and further promotes its growth.

Besides, the law will help clean up China’s reputation as a     10     source of fake or knock-off goods. In the long term, consumers will benefit from it.

4 . Directions: Complete the following paragraphs by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once.
Note that there is one word more than you need.

A Bad Idea

Think you can walk, dive, take phone calls, e-mail and listen to music at the same time? Well, New York's new law says you can't. And you'll be     1     $S100 if you do it on a New York City street.

The law went into force last month, following research and a(n)     2    number of accidents that involved people using electronic gadgets when crossing the street.

Who's to    3     ? Scientists say that our multitasking abilities are limited.

"We are under the impression that our brain can do more than it often can," says Rene Marois, a neuroscientist in Tennessee. “But a major limitation is the inability to    4    on two things at once".

The young people are often considered the great multitaskers. However, an Oxford University research suggests this idea is open to question. A group of 18-to 21-year-olds and a group of 35-to 39-year-olds were given 90 seconds to translate    5    into numbers, using a simple code. The younger group did 10 percent better when not interrupted. But when both groups were interrupted by a phone call or a(n)     6    message, the older group matched the younger group in speed and     7    .

It is difficult to measure the productivity    8    by multitaskers. But it is probably a lot. Jonathan Spire, chief analyst at Basex. a business-research firm, estimates the cost of interruptions to the American economy at nearly $650 billion a year.

The    9    is based on surveys with office workers. The surveys conclude that 28 percent of the workers' time was spent on interruptions and    10    time before they returned to their main tasks.

5 . What happens when the right to know comes up against the right not to know? The ease of genetic testing has brought this question to light. Two _______ legal cases－one in Britain, the other in Germany － stand to alter the way medicine is practised.

Both cases involve Huntington’s disease (HD). whose _______ include loss of co-ordination (协调), mood changes and cognitive (认知的) decline. It develops between the ages of 30 and 50, and is eventually fatal. Every child of an _______ parent has a 50% chance of inheriting it.

In the British case, _______ for trial at the High Court in London in November, a woman known as ABC-to protect the _______ of her daughter, who is a minor-is charging a London hospital, St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, for not _______ her father’s diagnosis of HD with her. ABC was pregnant at the time of his diagnosis, in 2009. She argues that had she been aware of it, she would have stopped the pregnancy. As it was, she found out only after giving birth to her daughter. She later tested _______ for HD.

The German case is in some ways the mirror image of the British one. Unlike in Britain, in Germany the right not to know genetic information is protected in law. _______ , in 2011 a doctor informed a woman that her divorced husband - the doctor's patient - had tested positive for HD. This meant their two children were _______   the disease. She accused the doctor, who had acted with his patient's permission. Both children being minors at the time, they could not legally be tested for the disease, which, as the woman’s lawyers pointed out, is currently     ________. They argued that she was therefore helpless to act on the information, and ________ suffered a reactive depression that prevented her from working.

Both cases test a legal grey area. If the right to know is ________ recognized in Britain later this year, that may remove some uncertainties, but it will also create new ones. To what lengths should doctors go to track down and inform family members, ________?

It is the law’s job to ________ these rights for the modern age. When the law falls behind technology, somebody often pays the price, and currently that somebody is ________ . As these two cases demonstrate, they find themselves in a difficult situation - charged if they do, accused if they don't.

1.

A．remarkable

B．distinct

C．contrasting

D．dominant

2.

A．consequences

B．symptoms

C．indications

D．diagnoses

3.

A．influenced

B．affected

C．inherited

D．annoyed

4.

A．scheduled

B．determined

C．approved

D．implemented

5.

A．possession

B．status

C．health

D．identity

6.

A．revealing

B．sharing

C．reminding

D．concealing

7.

A．convinced

B．suspicious

C．infected

D．positive

8.

A．Nevertheless

B．Thus

C．Additionally

D．Fundamentally

9.

A．in advance of

B．in the course of

C．at the close of

D．at the risk of

10.

A．inevitable

B．inextinguishable

C．incurable

D．intolerable

11.

A．as a result

B．after all

C．above all

D．in return

12.

A．financially

B．academically

C．legally

D．culturally

13.

A．on occasion

B．by comparison

C．in effect

D．for example

14.

A．reserve

B．balance

C．defend

D．draft

15.

A．lawmakers

B．victims

C．patients

D．doctors

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

A ban on distracted walking

You can’t walk down the street without passing so-called ''smart-phone zombies(僵尸). '' They are too absorbed in their screen     1     (watch) where they are going. Almost four in ten people admit having suffered a technology-related small accident     2     they pay more attention to their electronic device than to the pavement.

Now the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, has decided it’s time to take immediate action and make it illegal to cross the road while using a mobile phone. Those     3     (catch) using phones, tablets or other electronic devices at crossing points could face a fine of up to $ 100.

Honolulu is the first major U. S. city to ban     4     is called ''distracted walking. '' It comes after a study that found there     5     (be) more than 11,000 injuries in the United States resulting from phone-related distraction while walking in the past few years.

To explain the decision, mayor Kirk Caldwell said, ''We hold the unfortunate honor of being a major city     6     more pedestrians are hit in crosswalks than almost any other city in the country. ''

Under the fine systems.     7     breaks this law for the first time will get a fine of $15 to $35. People breaking the law for a second or third time will get a $99 fine.

The law, which is called the Distracted Walking Law, does permit an exception. Pedestrians     8     use such devices in the street to call emergency services and rescue workers, such as firefighters and police officers.

If you still want to text while walking, you could avoid     9     (fine) in Honolulu by using a voice-controlled digital assistant such as Siri or Google Assistant. Or you could just wait     10     you are again, safely, off the street.

7 . France, which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for women. Its lawmakers gave approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra (过分的)-thin models on runways.

The parliament also agreed to ban websites that “ encourage unreasonable thinness” by promoting extreme dieting.

Such measures ;have a couple of uplifting motives. They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up impinging on health. That’s a start. And the ban on ultrathin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starving themselves to death - as some have done.

The bans, if fully carried out, would suggest to women (and many men) that they should not let others be arbiters (仲裁人) of their beauty. And perhaps faintly, they hint that people should look to qualities like character and intellect rather than dieting their way to size zero.

The French measures, however, rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep and bone-showing. Under the law, using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mass could result in a $85,000 fine and six months in prison.

In contrast to France’s actions, Denmark’s fashion industry agreed last month on rules regarding the age, health, and. other characteristics of models. The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical Charter clearly states: “We are aware of and take responsibility for the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals, especially on young people.” The charter’s main tool of enforcement (执行) is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen Fashion Week, which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute.

Relying on moral persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step. Even better would be to help uplift notions (观念) of beauty beyond the material standards of a particular industry.

1. According to the first paragraph, what would happen in France?

A．Physical beauty would be redefined.

B．New runways would be constructed.

C．Websites about dieting would develop.

D．The fashion industry would decline.

2. The phrase “impinging on "in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.

A．heightening the value of

B．indicating the state of

C．losing faith in

D．doing harm to

3. A designer is most likely to be rejected by CFW for ________.

A．using extravagant material

B．caring too much about models’ character.

C．showing little concern for models’ health

D．pursuing the perfect physical conditions of models

4. Which of the following may be the best title of the text?

A．The Great Threats to the Fashion Industry

B．Beauty Is Skin-deep

C．A Campaign for Promoting True Beauty in France

D．A Challenge to the Fashion Industry’s Body Ideals

8 . Freedoms challenge in the Digital Age is a serious topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are all wondering what we are going to do with it.

Some 2,500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were tyrannies, one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses In Greece, in Athens(雅典) a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses.

And Athenians willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would be very painful unless one chose to live alone in the desert. The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he could do what he wanted A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the welfare of Athens, not because it was forced on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his safety. The essential belief of the first free government in the world was liberty for all men who could control themselves and would take responsibility for the state.

But discovering freedom is not like discovering computers. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do not prize it, and work for it, it will go. Constant watch is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place without being noticed though it was of the extreme importance a spiritual change which affected the whole state. It had been the Athenians pride and joy to give to their city That they could get material benefits from her never entered their minds. there had to be a complete change of attitude before they could took at the city as an employer who paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them. What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them; and with this as the primary object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibility were neglected to the point of disappearing: Athens was more and more looked on as a cooperative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share

Athens reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility

There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the common good, they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. It is to be had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility; she reached the end of freedom and was never to have it again.

But "the excellent becomes the permanent, Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was not lost forever for the world. a great American, James Madison, referred to the capacity of mankind for self-government. No doubt he had not an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest background of his mind, but once man has a great and good idea, it is never completely lost. The Digital Age cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man s thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action, only sure that it will do so sometimes

1. What does the underlined word "tyrannies" in Para2 refer to?

A．Countries where their people need help

B．Powerful states with higher civilization

C．Splendid empires where people enjoy freedom.

D．Government ruled with absolute power

2. What fundamental change in attitude took place in Athens?

A．The Athenians refused to take their responsibility.

B．The Athenians no longer took their pride in the city

C．The Athenians benefited spiritually from the government.

D．The Athenians viewed the government as a business to work for.

3. What does the underlined sentence "There could be only one result” in Para 5 mean?

A．Athens would continue to be

B．Athens would cease to have freedom.

C．Freedom would come from responsibility.

D．Freedom would stop Athens from self-dependence

4. Why does the author refer to Aristotle and Madison?

A．He is hopeful about freedom

B．He is cautious about self-government

C．He is doubtful about Greek civilization

D．He is critical of Greece’s loss of freedom

5. What is the authors understanding of freedom?

A．Freedom can be more popular in the digital age

B．Freedom may come to an end in the digital age

C．Freedom should have priority over responsibility

D．Freedom should be guaranteed by responsibility.

9 . Shanghai’s Metro operators are fed up with passengers eating food on the go and they want the practice gone. They’re responding to the ______ complaints made by other passengers who dislike the smell of food in the trains and the mess that’s often ______. Now, lawmakers are considering a ______ on all food and drink on the Metro that could ______ by the end of the year.

According to Ding Wei of the Shanghai government, 80 percent of people surveyed ______ the ban and he says, “It is necessary to ban eating and drinking on trains to ______ the smooth operation.” Ding admits, ______, that there is some opposition to the ban and some questions ______ how it could be enforced.

Should bottled water be banned? How about snacks for people who have low blood sugar and need to keep their blood sugar ______? Or, what about children eating their breakfast on the way to school? And what’s to be done with all those vending machines on the platforms which ______ eating by selling snacks and drinks?

These are questions that have to be dealt with, but subway systems in other cities have introduced eating bans ______. Singapore and Hong Kong are food free. Toronto has a ban against “pungent(刺鼻的)” foods on its system. And New York was pressed to introduce a ban after an infamous food fight in 2011. A woman was eating spaghetti on the train and when people complained of the mess and the smell, she started throwing the spaghetti at them! She was later ______ for causing a public disturbance.

As it stands now, the proposed law in Shanghai says first offenders will be given a warning and ______ offenders will be fined between 50 and 500 yuan.

Ultimately, though, the success of the ban will depend on people believing that it’s in their best ______, that riding on a clean, relatively odor free, subway is good for everyone and that selfish behavior won’t be tolerated. And is it really too much to ask hungry riders to curb their appetites until they arrive at their destination? It’s the Metro, ______, not a restaurant on wheels!

1.

A．numerous

B．enormous

C．extraordinary

D．grateful

2.

A．left alone

B．left out

C．left behind

D．left off

3.

A．law

B．regulation

C．ban

D．routine

4.

A．come true

B．take effect

C．keep up

D．carry out

5.

A．object

B．oppose

C．support

D．ignore

6.

A．preserve

B．ensure

C．assure

D．make

7.

A．however

B．therefore

C．furthermore

D．thus

8.

A．according to

B．thanks to

C．due to

D．as to

9.

A．up

B．down

C．lower

D．taller

10.

A．persuade

B．risk

C．permit

D．encourage

11.

A．successfully

B．efficiently

C．passionately

D．aggressively

12.

A．assumed

B．arrested

C．accused

D．advocated

13.

A．criminal

B．following

C．minor

D．repeat

14.

A．interests

B．senses

C．knowledge

D．advantages

15.

A．in all

B．at all

C．after all

D．above all

10 . The purpose of the American court system is to protect the rights of the people. According to American law, if someone is accused of a crime, he or she is considered innocent until the court proves that the person is guilty. In other words, it is the responsibility of the court to prove that a person is guilty. It is not the responsibility of the person to prove that he or she is innocent.

In order to arrest a person, the police have to be reasonable sure that a crime has been committed. The police must give the suspect the reasons why they are arresting him and tell him his rights under the law. Then the police take the suspect to the police station to “book” him. “Booking means that the name of the person and the charges against him are formally listed at the police station.

The next step is for the suspect to go before a judge. The judge decides whether the suspect should be kept in jail or released. If the suspect has no previous criminal record and the judge feels that he will return to court rather than run away -- for example, because he owns a house and has a family -- he can go free. Otherwise, the suspect must put up bail（保释金）. At this time, too, the judge will appoint a court layer to defend the suspect if he can’t afford one.

The suspect returns to court a week or two later. A lawyer from the district attorney’s office presents a case against the suspect. This is called a hearing. The attorney may present evidence as well as witnesses. The judge at the hearing then decides whether there is enough reason to hold a trial. If the judge decides that there is sufficient evidence to call for a trial, he or she sets a date for the suspect to appear in court to formally plead guilty（认罪）or not guilty.

At the trial, a jury of 12 people listens to the evidence from both attorneys and hears the testimony of the witnesses. Then the jury goes into a private room to consider the evidence and decide whether the defendant is guilty of the crime. If the jury decides that the defendant is innocent, he goes free. However, if he is convicted, the judge sets a date for the defendant to appear in court again for sentencing. At this time, the judge tells the convicted（宣判有罪的）person what his punishment will be. The judge may sentence him to prison, order him to pay a fine, or place him on probation（缓刑）.

The American justice system is very complex and sometimes operates slowly. However, every step is designed to protect the rights of the people. These individual rights are the basis, or foundation, of the American government.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The American court system requires that a suspect prove that he or she is innocent.

B．The US court system is designed to protect the rights of the people.

C．Under the American court system, judge decides if a suspect is innocent or guilty.

D．The US court system is designed to help the police present a case against the suspect.

2. According to the passage, ‘he can go free’ (para. 3) means _________.

A．the suspect is free to choose a lawyer to defend him

B．the suspect does not have to go to trial because the judge has decided he is innocent

C．the suspect will be informed by mail whether he is innocent or not

D．the suspect does not have to wait in jail or pay money until he goes to trial

3. What is the purpose of having the suspect pay bail?

A．To pay for the judge and the trial.

B．To pay for a court lawyer to defend the suspect.

C．To ensure that the suspect will return to court.

D．To ensure that the suspect will appear in prison.

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．The American justice system sometimes operates slowly

B．The police can arrest a suspect without giving any reasons.

C．It is the responsibility of the suspect to prove he is innocent.

D．The jury considers the evidence in the court room.