1 . 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

2 . 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.

3 . 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.

4 . 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

5 . 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.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________