1 .

A．Most people killed in traffic accidents are heavy drinkers.

B．Innocent people are unlikely to be drunk drivers.

C．Drivers run high risk of losing lives.

D．The danger of drunk driving deserves much attention.

2 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

To sue or not to sue?

The rise and rise of the compensation culture

Perhaps it’s not surprising that Roslyn Darch of Houston, Texas, USA felt annoyed when she tripped (绊倒) over a kid running around furniture store, and broke her ankle.     1     The owners were clearly surprised at the size of Roslyn’s payout. Particularly since the kid she tripped over was her own son.

Some argue that this is just greed --- that the amount of money is far too much for the injury suffered---and it’s not the shop’s fault that a mother can’t control her child anyway.     2     Whatever you think, the compensation culture which has grown up in the USA is spreading, and it will affect all of us.

    3     Sandra York received ＄113,000 from a Philadelphia restaurant after slipping on a spilt soft drink. However, the drink was on the floor because York had thrown it over her boyfriend thirty seconds earlier, during an argument.

If you think that going on holiday is a good way to get away from all this trouble, think again ---millions of people complain to the British Tourist Authority every year, and many receive some form of compensation. Staff at British travel company Thomson Holidays are used to dealing with requests for compensation following poor weather, cancelled flights and lost luggage, but one spokesman revealed, “We recently had a claim from someone who said their holiday was ruined because they didn’t get on with their travelling companion.     4    ”

A．Not everyone takes it for granted to ask for compensation for physical injuries.

B．And it’s not the only claim for physical injuries that are keeping the lawyers busy.

C．And we regularly get complaints from holidaymakers travelling abroad who say the locals don’t speak English!

D．Others would say that it’s good to see the law taking the side of the individual against the big corporations, for a change.

E．It’s difficult for the British Tourist Authority to settle the complaints.

F．But a few months later, she was $780,000 richer after successfully suing (起诉) the shop.

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.

Minimum wage laws in the U.S. were first introduced during the 1930s in response to the Great Depression. This period was     1     by falling output, falling prices, and falling employment. The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933 attempted to stop this downward trend by encouraging the     2     of trade association agreements that established the lowest price and minimum wages. This was the first time that minimum wages were introduced in major industries. But in 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NIRA was unlawful, and these initial minimum wage agreements came to an end.

In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) established a national minimum wage of $0.25 an hour. This Act     3     only applied to a relatively small share of the labor force, but has been     4     over time so that it now applies to about 90% of all nonsupervisory workers.

Introductory economies textbooks usually first introduce the minimum wage as an application of demand and supply analysis. This starting discussion is usually based on the following     5    : the labor market is perfectly competitive, the minimum wage covers all workers, and worker productivity is     6     by the wage rate.

While minimum wage increases generally receive     7     public support, economists have generally argued that such laws will result in an increase in the unemployment rate in low-wage labor markets.

An issue related to that of a minimum wage is a growing movement for a “living wage”.Living wage proposals suggest that the     8     minimum wage is too low to allow families to be above the poverty level. Now,     9     of this view support “living wage laws” that require the local government to only accept contracts from firms that pay their workers a wage that is high enough to     10     the worker above the poverty line. Under Baltimore’s “living wage” requirement, firms must pay a worker an hourly wage that will allow a full-time worker to receive an annual income greater than or equal to the poverty level for a family of three.

4 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

It is a common sight on campus or in the streets: a young person rides by on an electric scooter, traveling quickly and proudly. But Beijing’s traffic authorities have said that starting on Sept.5, people who are caught riding electric scooters on public roads or bicycle lanes will be fined 10 yuan. They will also be given a warning not to use the vehicles on public roads again.

The announcement was made after traffic police in Shanghai started a campaign to get electric scooters off public roads, with police officers stopping riders because the scooters could cause traffic problems.

The Beijing Consumer Association said it had tested more than 20 electric scooters of different brands recently and found that most had substandard brakes. It added that 16 of the tested scooters could go faster than the maximum 20 km per hour set for electric bikes. According to the traffic police, people who ride electric scooters at certain speeds can easily bump into the vehicles in the vehicle lane and hurt people who walk in the bicycle lanes.

But seeing the benefits that electric scooters have brought to young people, experts are worried that the ban may take effect slowly.

Electric scooters are a great answer to the ‘last mile problem’ of getting from a public transport station to one’s home. They’re light enough to throw over your shoulder. They’re easy to ride just about anywhere and don’t need a lot of physical effort. The scooter can travel 25 km on one charge. It’s convenient and easy to control.

They are also good for environment. Unlike cars and buses, electric scooters produce no carbon dioxide, need no fuel and make almost no noise.

For many young people, they use them to copy cool celebrities they have seen in videos.

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5 . 阅读理解。
Enough ＂meaningless drivel＂. That’s the message from a group of members of the UK government who have been examining how social media firms like LinkedIn gather and use social media data.
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report, released last week, has blamed firms for making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts and calls for an international standard or kitemark (认证标记) to identify sites that have clear terms and conditions.
＂The term and conditions statement that we all carelessly agree to is meaningless drivel to anyone,＂ says Andrew Miller, the chair of the committee. Instead, he says, firms should provide a plain-English version of their terms. The simplified version would be checked by a third party and awarded a kitemark if it is an accurate reflection of the original.
It is not yet clear who would administer the scheme, but the UK government is looking at introducing it on a voluntary basis. ＂we need to think through how we make that work in practice,＂ says Miller.
Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark? ＂I think if you went and did the survey, people would like to think they would,＂ says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton, UK, who studies open data. ＂We do know people worry a lot about the inappropriate use of their information.＂ But what would happen in practice is another matter, he says.
Other organisations such as banks ask customers to sign long contracts they may not read or understand, but Miller believes social media requires special attention because it is so new. ＂We still don’t know how significant the long-term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in 20 years’ time,＂ he says.
Shadbolt, who gave evidence to the committee, says the problem is that we don’t know how companies will use our data because their business models and uses of data are still evolving. Large collections of personal information   have become valuable only recently, he says.
The shock and anger when a social media firm does something with data that people don’t expect, even if users have apparently permission, show that the current situation isn’t working. If properly administered, a kitemark on terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to. Although they would still have to actually read them.
1. What does the phrase ＂ meaningless drivel＂ in paragraphs 1 and 3 refer to?

A．Legal contracts that social media firms make people sign up to.

B．Warnings from the UK government against unsafe websites.

C．Guidelines on how to use social media websites properly.

D．Insignificant data collected by social media firms.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Nigel Shadbolt doubts whether _______.

A．social media firms would conduct a survey on the kitemark scheme

B．people would pay as much attention to a kitemark as they think

C．a kitemark scheme would be workable on a nationwide scale

D．the kitemark would help companies develop their business models

3. Andrew Miller thinks social media needs more attention than banks mainly because _______.

A．their users consist largely of kids under 20 years old

B．the language in their contracts is usually harder to understand

C．the information they collected could become more valuable in future

D．it remains unknown how users’ data will be taken advantage of

4. The writer advises users of social media to _______.

A．think carefully before posting anything onto such websites

B．read the terms and conditions even if there is a kitemark

C．take no further action if they can find a kitemark

D．avoid providing too much personal information

5. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．Say no to social media?

B．New security rules in operation?

C．Accept without reading?

D．Administration matters!