Part I Writing (25 minutes)

(请于正式开考后半小时内完成该部分，之后将进行听力考试)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an advertisement on your campus website to sell a bicycle you used at college. Your advertisement may include its brand, features,condition and price, and your contact information. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and questions will be spoken only once. After you hear questions, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

Questions 1 to 2 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

1. A) The majority of drivers prefer to drive and park themselves.

B) Human drivers become easily distracted or tired while driving.

C) Most drivers feel uncertain about the safety of self-driving cars.

D) Most drivers have test driven cars with automatic braking features.

2. A) Their drivers would feel safe after getting used to the automatic devices.

B) They would be unpopular with drivers who only trust their own skills.

C) Their increased comfort levels have boosted their sales.

D) They are not actually as safe as automakers advertise.

Questions 3 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

3. A) Thefts of snowmobile dogs in Alaska.

B) A series of injuries to snowmobile drivers.

C) Attacks on some Iditarod Race competitors.

D) A serious accident in the Alaska sports event.

4. A) He stayed behind to look after his injured dogs.

B) He has won the Alaska Iditarod Race four times.

C) He received a minor injury in the Iditarod Race.

D) He has quit the competition in Alaska for good.

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

5. A) It sank into the sea due to overloading.

B) It ran into Nicaragua’s Big Corn Island.

C) It disappeared between two large islands.

D) It turned over because of strong winds.

6. A) 13. B) 25.

C) 30. D)32.

7. A) He has helped with the rescue effort.

B) He is being investigated by the police.

C) He was drowned with the passengers.

D) He is among those people missing.

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

8. A) At a shopping centre. B) At a community college.

C) At an accountancy firm. D) At an IT company.

9. A) Helping out with data input. B) Arranging interviews.

C) Sorting application forms. D) Making phone calls.

10. A) He enjoys using computers.

B) He needs the money badly.

C) He wants to work in the city centre.

D) He has relevant working experience.

11. A) Purchase some business suits.

B) Learn some computer language.

C) Improve his programming skills.

D) Review some accountancy terms.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

12. A) They are keen on high technology.

B) They are poor at technology skills.

C) They often listen to National Public Radio.

D) They feel superior in science and technology.

13. A) Japanese. B) Germans.

C) Poles. D) Americans.

14. A) Emailing. B) Texting.

C) Science. D) Literacy.

15. A) It is undergoing a drastic reform.

B) It lays emphasis on creative thinking.

C) It has much room for improvement.

D) It prioritizes training of practical skills.

Section C

Directions: In this section, you will hear three passages of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played only once. After you hear a question,you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

16. A) They have small roots. B) They grow white flowers.

C) They taste like apples. D) They come from Central Africa.

17. A) They turned from white to purple in color.

B) They became popular on the world market.

C) They became an important food for humans.

D) They began to look like modern-day carrots.

18. A) They were found quite nutritious.

B) There were serious food shortages.

C) People discovered their medicinal value.

D) Farm machines helped lower their prices.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

19. A) She could update her family any time she liked.

B) She could call up her family whenever she liked

C) She could locate her friends wherever they were.

D) She could download as many pictures as she liked.

20. A) She liked to inform her friends about her success.

B) She enjoyed reading her friends’ status updates.

C) She felt quite popular among them.

D) She felt she was a teenager again.

21. A) She could barely respond to all her 500 Facebook friends.

B) She spent more time updating her friends than her family.

C) She could barely balance Facebook updates and her work.

D) She didn’t seem to be doing as well as her Facebook friends.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

22. A) They have strong muscles.

B) They live a longer life than horses.

C) They eat much less in winter.

D) They can work longer than donkeys.

23. A) It was a pet of a Spanish king.

B) It was bought by George Washington.

C) It was brought over from Spain.

D) It was donated by a U.S. Ambassador.

24. A) They met and exchanged ideas on animal breeding.

B) They participated in a mule-driving competition.

C) They showed and traded animals in the market.

D) They fed mules with the best food they could find.

25. A) The wider use of horses. B) The arrival of tractors.

C) A shrinking animal trade. D) A growing donkey population.

Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices, Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.

America’s Internet is fester than ever before, but people still complain about their Internet being too slow.

New York’s Attorney General’s office (26)_______ an investigation in the fall into whether or not Verizon, Cablevision and Time Warner are delivering broadband that’s as fast as the providers (27)_______ it is. Earlier this month, the office asked for the public’s help to measure their speed results, saying consumers (28)_______ to get the speeds they were promised. “Too many of us may be paying for one thing, and getting another，” the Attorney General said.

If the investigation uncovers anything, it wouldn’t be the first time a telecom provider got into (29)_______ over the broadband speeds it promised and delivered customers. Back in June, the Federal Communications Commission fined AT& T $ 100 million over (30)_______ that the carrier secretly reduced wireless speeds after customers consumed a certain amount of (31)_______ .

Even when they stay on the right side of the law, Internet providers arouse customers’ anger over bandwidth speed and cost. Just this week, an investigation found that media and telecom giant Comcast is

the most (32)_______ provider. Over 10 months, Comcast received nearly 12,000 customer complaints, many (33)_______ to its monthly data cap and overage (超过额度的)charges.

Some Americans are getting so (34)_______ with Internet providers they’re just giving up. A recent

study found that the number of Americans with high-speed Internet at home today (35)_______ fell during the last two years, and 15% of people now consider themselves to be “cord-cutters.”

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

Section B

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

From Accountant to Yogi: Making a Radical Career Change

[A] At some point, almost all of us will experience a period of radical professional change. Some of us will seek it out; for others it will feel like an unwelcome intrusion into otherwise stable careers. Either way, we have choices about how we respond to it when it comes.

[B] We recently caught up with yoga entrepreneur Leah Zaccaria, who put herself through the fire of change to completely reinvent herself. In her search to live a life of purpose, Leah left her high-paying accounting job, her husband, and her home, hi the process, she built a radically new life and career. Since then, she has founded two yoga studios, met a new life partner, and formed a new community of people. Even if your personal reinvention is less drastic, we think there are lessons from her experience that apply.

[C] Where do the seeds of change come from? the Native American Indians have a saying: “Pay attention to the whispers so you won’t have to hear the screams.” Often the best ideas for big changes come from unexpected places — it’s just a matter of tuning in. Great leaders recognize the weak signals or slight signs that point to big changes to come. Leah reflects on a time she listened to the whispers: “About the time my daughter was five years old. I started having a sense that ‘this isn’t right.”’ She then realized that her life no longer matched her vision for it.

[D] Up until that point, Leah had followed traditional measures of success. After graduating with a degree in business and accounting, she joined a public accounting firm, married, bought a house, put lots of stuff in it, and had a baby. “I did what everybody else thought looked successful,” she says. Leah easily could have fallen into a trap of feeling content; instead, her energy sparked a period of experimentation and renewal.

[E] Feeling the need to change, Leah started playing with future possibilities by exploring her interests and developing new capabilities. First trying physical exercise and dieting, she lost some weight and discovered an inner strength. “1 felt powerful because 1 broke through my own limitations,” she recalls.

[F] However, it was another interest that led Leah to radically reinvent herself. “I remember sitting on a bench with my aunt at a yoga studio,’’ she said, having a moment of clarity right then and there: Yoga is saving my life. Yoga is waking me up. I’m not happy and I want to change and I’m done with this.” In that moment of clarity Leah made an important leap,conquering her inner resistance to change and making a firm commitment to take bigger steps.

[G] Creating the future you want is a lot easier if you are ready to exploit the opportunities that come your way. When Leah made the commitment to change, she primed herself to new opportunities she may otherwise have overlooked. She recalls:

[H] One day a man I worked with, Ryan, who had his office next to mine, said, “Leah, let’s go look at this space on Queen Anne.” He knew my love for yoga and had seen a space close to where he lived that he thought might be good to serve as a yoga studio. As soon as I saw the location, I knew this was it. Of course I was scared, yet I had this strong sense of “I have to do this.” Only a few months later Leah opened her first yoga studio, but success was not instant.

[I] Creating the future takes time. That’s why leaders continue to manage the present while building toward the big changes of the future. When it’s time to make the leap, they take action and immediately drop what’s no longer serving their purpose. Initially Leah stayed with her accounting job while starting up the yoga studio to make it all work.

[J] Soon after, she knew she had to make a bold move to fully commit to her new future. Within two years, Leah shed the safety of her accounting job and made the switch complete. Such drastic change is not easy.

[K] Steering through change and facing obstacles brings us face to face with our fears. Leah reflects on one incident that triggered her fears, when her investors threatened to shut her down: “I was probably up against the most fear I’ve ever had，” she says. “I had spent two years cultivating this community, and it had become successful very fast, but within six months I was facing the prospect of losing it all.”

[L] She connected with her sense of purpose and dug deep, cultivating a tremendous sense of strength. “I was feeling so intentional and strong that I wasn’t going to let fear just take over. I was thinking, ‘OK, guys, if you want to try to shut me down, shut me down.’And I knew it was a negotiation scheme, so I was able to say to myself, ‘This is not real.’” By naming her fears and facing them head-on, Leah gained confidence. For most of us, letting go of the safety and security of the past gives us great fear. Calling out our fears explicitly, as Leah did,can help us act decisively.

[M] The cycle of renewal never ends. Leah’s growth spurred her to open her second studio— and it wasn’t for the money.

[N] I have no desire to make millions of dollars. It’s not about that; it’s about growth for me. Honestly, I didn’t need to open a second studio. I was making as much money as I was as an accountant. But I know if you don’t grow, you stand still, and that doesn’t work for me.

[O] Consider the current moment in your own life, your team or your organization. Where are you in the cycle of renewal: Are you actively preserving the present, or selectively forgetting the past, or boldly creating the future? What advice would Leah give you to move you ahead on your journey? Once we’re on the path of growth, we can continually move through the seasons of transformation and renewal.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

36. Readiness to take advantage of new opportunities will make it easier to create one’s desired future.

37. By conventional standards, Leah was a typical successful woman before she changed her career.

38. Leah gained confidence by laying out her fears and confronting them directly.

39. In search of a meaningful life, Leah gave up what she had and set up her own yoga studios.

40 Leah’s interest in yoga prompted her to make a firm decision to reshape her life.

41. Small signs may indicate great changes to come and therefore merit attention.

42. Leah’s first yoga studio was by no means an immediate success.

43. Some people regard professional change as an unpleasant experience that disturbs their stable careers.

44. The worst fear Leah ever had was the prospect of losing her yoga business.

45. As she explored new interests and developed new potentials，Leah felt powerful internally.

Section C

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

The Urbanization — migration away from the suburbs to the city center — will be the biggest real estate trend in 2015, according to a new report.

The report says America’s urbanization will continue to be the most significant issue affecting the industry, as cities across the country imitate the walkability and transit-oriented development making cities like New York and San Francisco so successful.

As smaller cities copy the model of these “24-hour cities，’’ tfiore affordable versions of these places will be created. The report refers to this as the coming of the “18-hour city，”，and uses the term to refer to cities like Houston, Austin, Charlotte, and Nashville, which are “positioning themselves as highly competitive, in terms of livability, employment offerings, and recreational and cultural facilities.”

Another trend that looks significant in 2015 is that America’s largest population group, Millennials (千禧一代)，will continue to put off buying a house. Apartments will retain their appeal for a while for Millennials, haunted by what happened to home-owning parents.

This trend will continue into the 2020s, the report projects. After that, survey respondents disagree over whether this generation will follow in their parents，footsteps, moving to the suburbs to raise families, or will choose to remain in the city center.

Another issue affecting real estate in the coming year will be America’s failing infrastructure. Most roads, bridges, transit, water systems, the electric grid, and communications networks were installed 50 to 100 years ago, and they are largely taken for granted until they fail.

The report’s writers state that America’s failure to invest in infrastructure impacts not only the health of the real-estate market, but also our ability to remain globally competitive.

Apart from the specific trends highlighted above, which cause some investors to worry, the report portrays an overall optimism borne by the recent healthy real-estate “upcycle” and improving economy. Seventy-four percent of the respondents surveyed report a “good to excellent” expectation of real-estate profitability in 2015. While excessive optimism can promote bad investment patterns, resulting in a real- estate “bubble,” the report’s writers downplay that potential outcome in that it has not yet occurred.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

46. According to the new report, real estate development in 2015 will witness_______ .

A) an accelerating speed

B) a shift to city centers

C) a new focus on small cities

D) an ever-increasing demand

47. What characterizes “24-hour cities” like New York?

A) People can live without private cars.

B) People are generally more competitive.

C) People can enjoy services around the clock.

D) People are in harmony with the environment.

48. Why are Millennials reluctant to buy a house?

A) They can only afford small apartments.

B) The house prices are currently too high.

C) Their parents’ bad experience still haunts them.

D) They feel attached to the suburban environment.

49. What might hinder real estate development in the U.S.?

A) The continuing economic recession in the country.

B) The lack of confidence on the part of investors.

C) The fierce global competition.

D) The worsening infrastructure.

50. How do most of the respondents in the survey feel about the U.S. real-estate market in 2015?

A) Pessimistic. B) Hopeful.

C) Cautious. D) Uncertain.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

The brain is a seemingly endless library, whose shelves house our most precious memories as well as our lifetime’s knowledge. But is there a point where it reaches capacity?

The answer is no, because brains are more sophisticated than that. Instead of just crowding in, old information is sometimes pushed out of the brain for new memories to form.

Previous behavioural studies have shown that learning new information can lead to forgetting. But in a new study, researchers demonstrated for the first time how this effect occurs in the brain.

In daily life, forgetting actually has clear advantages. Imagine, for instance, that you lost your bank card. The new card you receive will come with a new personal identificatipn number (PIN). Each time you remember the new PIN, you gradually forget the old one. This process improves access to relevant information, without old memories interfering.

And most of us may sometimes feel the frustration of having old memories interfere with new, relevant memories. Consider trying to remember where you parked your car in the same car park you were at a week earlier. This type of memory (where you are trying to remember new, but similar information) is particularly vulnerable to interference.

When we acquire new information, the brain automatically tries to incorporate (合并)it within existing information by forming associations. And when we retrieve (检索) information, both the desired and associated but irrelevant information is recalled.,

The majority of previous research has focused on how we learn and remember new information. But current studies are beginning to place greater emphasis on the conditions under which we forget, as its importance begins to be more appreciated.

A very small number of people are able to remember almost every detail of their life. While it may sound like an advantage to many, people with this rare condition often find their unusual ability burdensome.

In a sense, forgetting is our brain’s way of sorting memories, so the most relevant memories are ready for retrieval. Normal forgetting may even be a safety mechanism to ensure our brain doesn’t become too full.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

51. What have past behavioural studies found about our brain?

A) Its capacity actually knows no limits.

B) It grows sophisticated with practice.

C) It keeps our most precious memories until life’s end.

D) New information learned pushes old information out.

52. What is the benefit of forgetting?

A) It frees us from painful memories.

B) It helps slow down our aging process.

C) It facilitates our access to relevant information.

D) It prevents old information from forming associations.

53. What is the emphasis of current studies of memory?

A) When people tend to forget.

B) What contributes to forgetting.

C) How new technology hinders memory capacity.

D) Why learning and forgetting arc complementary.

54. What do people find about their rare ability to remember every detail of their life?

A) It adds to the burden of their memory.

B) It makes their life more complicated.

C) It contributes to their success in life.

D) It constitutes a rare object of envy.

55. What does the passage say about forgetting?

A) It can enlarge our brain capacity.

B) It helps get rid of negative memories.

C) It is a way of organising our memories.

D) It should not cause any alarm in any way.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

长江是亚洲最长、世界上第三长的河流。长江流经多种不同的生态系统，是诸多濒危物种的栖 息地，灌溉了中国五分之一的土地。长江流域(river basin )居住着三分之一的人口。长江在中国历史、文化和经济上起着很大的作用。长江三角洲(delta)产出多达20%的中国国民生产总值。几千年来，长江一直被用于供水、运输和工业生产。长江上还坐落着世界最大的水电站。

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

参考答案

答案：

长江是亚洲最长、世界上第三长的河流。长江流经多种不同的生态系统，是诸多濒危物种的栖息地，灌溉了中国五分之一的土地。长江流域居住着中国三分之一的人口。长江在中国历史、文化和经济上起着很大的作用。长江三角洲产出多达20%的中国国民生产总值。几千年来，长江一直被用于供水，运输和工业生产。长江上还坐落着世界最大的水电站。

TheYangtze River is the longest river in Asia and also the third longest riveraround the world. Yangtze River which flows through a variety of differentecosystems, is the habitat of many endangered species, irrigating one fifth ofthe land in China. The Yangtze River Basin is home to one third of Chinesepopulation, which plays a significant role on Chinese history, culture andeconomy. The Yangtze River Delta produces up to twenty percent of China’s GrossNational Product. For thousands of years, the Yangtze River has been takenadvantages of water supply, transportation and industrial production. Besides,the world’s largest hydro-electric power station stands on the Yangtze River.