M: Really?
W: Or, to give you other examples, often minority groups who have perhaps failed to persuade with words tend to express themselves by wearing unconventional or what some might consider outrageous clothing as a way of showing their thoughts and feelings are different from the rest. And so they find an outlet in this way.
M: That surely spills over into other things as well.
W: Oh, yes, indeed. Hair cuts, music and songs can all be a form of rebellion. But to get to back to cloth, I would add that a whole lot about our personality is conveyed in our cloth and the way we look-------aggressiveness, rebelliousness, happiness, sadness and so on. This can all be interpreted. Think of the aging pop star who may be pushing middle age, he’ll keep on dressing up like a rebel to try to prove he is with it still and in touch with his young fans and current trends.
11.About which of the following topics is the woman being interviewed?
12. What does it probably show if an individual overdresses in warmer cloth than are necessary?
13.According to the interviewee, what kind of people tend to dress in an extrovert manner?
14. According to the interviewe, which of the following speaks a lot about man’s awarness of his own image?
15. According to the interview, who tend to wear unconventional clothing?
Q16-20
Computers may never offer a perfect system for work and communications. Yet, in spite of the bugs that need to be worked out, there is no question that computers now shape the pattern of our activities. Almost everyone has felt the tremors and change as the internet has revolutionized the way we do things. From the way we run our daily errands to the way we relate to other human beings, with the internet, we can now get information, products and friends more quickly. With a few clicks of the mouse, we can do research on specific subjects that might have taken hours or days in a library. With online shopping, we can purchase what we need more quickly and efficiently. We can now deal with retailers over the internet, instead of waiting in lines at shopping malls. With email we can maintain friendships as well as create new ones without ever sitting
6
down to write or post a letter. But not everyone feels the internet is improving our lives. The web is messy and that it cannot always provide clear directions on how to get where we want to go. The hyperlinks that exist among different websites often send people on a trip to nowhere or somewhere totally unexpected. The web is not an organized database. Rather, it is a brier patch where people can get stuck or lost. Online shopping is an example of this mass. Although shopping from home is appealing, e-commerce is not always as convenient as one might think. Sometimes it takes a long time to order on the internet. People can waste time or get confused filling out the information on all the different screens to place an order. In fact, anywhere from 33% to 75% of people who shop online drop out before ever placing an order. Most importantly, many people are concerned about privacy issues. They are reluctant to put their personal information on the web. Filling in information such as one’s name, address, phone number and credit card information can shake the confidence of an online shopper. Some even fear that theirs conspiracy among businesses to use consumer information for their own benefit. Perhaps even more troubling is the belief that as people spend more time surfing the web, they are becoming socially isolated. A recent survey indicated that 16% of internet users spend less time with family and friends. The amount of time a husband or wife spends on the web is frequently cited as one cause for divorce. Then the young people say that their closest friends are those they have corresponded with on the internet. That is, their closest friends are people they have never even met. Whether the internet will continue to be a driving force for change is still unknown. And whether the effects of the internet on our lives will be more positive or negative is still debatable.
16. Computers and the internet have revolutionized the way we do things, which of the following things is not mentioned in the talk?
17. Why is it that not everyone feels the internet is improving our lives?
18. Which of the following is the primary concern of online shoppers?
19. What can we know from the talk that people spending more time surfing the web?
20. What is the main argument of this talk?
Note-taking and Gap-filling
How is urbanization negatively affecting our society? The answer to this question is not a simple one. When answering this question, one must understand that urbanization cannot be stopped but only contained in a manner that will help the United States to function better as a country.
The more densely populated and more heterogeneous a community is, the more accentuated characteristics can be associated with urbanism. Urbanism promotes urban violence, political
7
instability, crime and aggressive behavior. Rapid population growth in urban areas also perpetuates poverty. Another major issue being created by this social problem is the breaking of the traditional family structure. Our cities are not working well---sanitation, safety, transportation, housing, education, and even electricity are failing. These are all responsibilities of the government, or it is at least their job to regulate these services deemed to be monopolies. And it is a known fact that monopolies deem toward inefficiency.
Functionalists look at our cities as a means to profit. Cities are a place where everybody visits. And therefore vendors can raise their prices and profit more on their products. For example, from my own personal experience, I bought a pack of cigarettes for three dollars at my local gas station. And when I visited inner city Orlando, I bought the same brand of cigarettes for four dollars.
In the United States, the breaking of the traditional family structure is an issue that has become increasingly noticeable in recent years, particularly in urbanized areas. The traditional mom-and-dad-and-children are rarely seen in the inner cities any more. There is a weakened bond of kinship and declining social family significance as America has transferred industrial, educational and recreational activities to specialized institutions outside of the home. It is depriving families of their most characteristic, historical functions. With divorce rates rising, delinquency is also becoming more of a problem than before. In single-parent families, parents spend less time with children. These specialized institutions often help, but cannot replace the role of a child guardian. As long as the divorce rate continues to increase, delinquency will continue to increase in these areas as well.
The variations of people give rise to segregation of people by race, religious practices, ethnic heritage as well as economic and social status. Segregation often creates much tension and prejudice between social groups. This can cause physical or mental damage to individuals or society. As for racism and segregation, there is not much that can be done to fix these problems. Individuals will always have their own opinions, no matter how ignorant. And the only thing we can do is to hope that these problems die out as we desegregate our community. People will choose their destination or place of residence according to many different ideals and needs, for example, what fits their budget? The government assumes major responsibility for development attempting to meet rapid and increasing demands for education, housing, agriculture and industrial development, transportation and employment. The government budget is not distributed equally mainly due to differentiation in areas. Areas with higher income will obviously have a higher budget to work with.
Urban areas are usually lacking in financial resources, therefore they are not able to repair all the problems in these areas, such as sanitation, education and many other categories. America has hired 50% more teachers in the last few years than have been hired in the past, but the increase in population keeps the classrooms just as large. The effort does not meet the need, thus the problem
8
remains as strong as ever. Due to the overpopulation in urban areas and the lack of employment opportunity, the crime rate is still a huge problem in which they are faced with. Also, the lack of the traditional family structure and weakened bonds of kinship weaken the moral of the children growing up in the urban areas. These children grow up in poverty, and usually look at crime as a quick and easy way out. Problems in urban areas are far more serious than can be handled in any short-term efforts. We can only hope to contain them and attempt to make sure that no more problems arise from the already existing ones.
Listening and Translation Sentence translation
1. I think my parents influenced me the most, material wealth, status and power were never revered in our family. I was taught to value honesty, fairness and consideration of others.
我认为父母对我的影响是最大的,在我家里不崇拜物质财富、地位和权利。从小父母教给我重视诚实、正直和体贴。
2. Innovation is like a bamboo shoot, a bamboo shoots bends many years under ground, and then it just picks its head up like a seedling, and to shoot up very quickly. 创新犹如竹笋,潜地多年,然后萌芽,快速生长。
3. I’m a great believer that almost everything you achieve in life is down to your attitude. If I have an employee who is magnificently gifted but has a stinking attitude, I would not waste time on them.
我坚信一个人的成功取决于于态度。如果我有一个员工,他天资聪颖但是态度不佳,我不会在他们身上浪费时间的。
4. With record personal debts, tens of thousands of bankruptcies and sharp interest rate declines, economists and bankers have warned that Canadians face financial hardships which could threaten economic growth.
随着个人贷款创历史最高、成千上万企业破产和利率下调,经济学家和银行家已经警示,加拿大人面临的金融危机将威胁经济增长。
5. In Europe, 26% of school children aged from 5 to 9 years old spend times on computers in 2007. yet very little research has been conducted to examine what impact computers have on children’s cognitive and emotional development.
欧洲,2007有26%的5至9岁的学生在校学习电脑,但是极少试验结果能够表明电脑对孩子的认知和情感发展有何种影响。
Passage translation Passage one
If you are required to give a presentation or speech, just remember make the structure and points of what you are saying obvious to the audience. Don’t be afraid to rephrase and summarize your main points to make sure you get them across. But make it enjoyable for the audience too by being amusing if appropriate or by perhaps illustrating points you make with an anecdote or an analogy. Something that is too abstract and theoretical can be a bit tedious to listen to for too long. Anyway, we can discuss that in greater detail when you have got your subject chosen.
如果你需要做演讲或报告,记得务必使观众清楚你所讲内容的结构和要点。为了让观众听明白,不要害怕不断解释和总结你的主要观点。为了让听众听听得开心,可以在适当穿插幽默
9
或者用故事或对比把自己的观点诠释清楚。太抽象和理论性的东西如果听久的话可能会让听众觉得乏味。大家在选定主题后,我们可以在这个问题上进一步讨论。
Passage two
According to the latest report issued by the Department of Health, there are now 13 states, where more than a quarter of the adult population is overweight or obese. Nevada is the only state that saw a decrease in the percentage of the obese adult compared to last year’s report. Overall, adult obesity rose from 15% in 1985 to 32% in 2007. Taken together, individuals who are either overweight or obese comprise 64% of the US adult population. Obesity among children is increasing at an even more alarming pace, having more than tripled in the past two decades.
根据卫生部最近报告显示,现在有十三个州成人的肥胖人口比例超过1/4。和去年的报告相比,内华达州是唯一一个肥胖率有所下降的州。总体来说,成人肥胖率已经从1985年的15%上升到2007年的32%。超重和肥胖的人口总地加起来占美国成人总人口的64%。儿童肥胖率更是以惊人的速度在上升,在过去二十年中已经增长了三倍。
10