阅读
Passage1:公共交通的演变(Advantagesof public transport)
原文:
A new study conducted for the World Bank byMurdoch University’s Institute for Science and Technology Policy (ISTP) hasdemonstrated that public transport is more efficient than cars. The studycompared the proportion of wealth poured into transport by thirty-seven citiesaround the world. This included both the public and private costs of building,maintaining and using a transport system.
The study found that the Western Australiancity of Perth is a good example of a city with minimal public transport. As aresult, 17% of its wealth went into transport costs. Some European and Asiancities, on the other hand, spent as little as 5%. Professor Peter Newman, ISTPDirector, pointed out that these more efficient cities were able to put thedifference into attracting industry and jobs or creating a better place tolive.
According to Professor Newman, the largerAustralian city of Melbourne is a rather unusual city in this sort ofcomparison. He describes it as two cities: ‘A European city surrounded by acar-dependent one’. Melbourne’s large tram network has made car use in theinner city much lower, but the outer suburbs have the same car-based structure asmost other Australian cities. The explosion in demand for accommodation in theinner suburbs of Melbourne suggests a recent change in many people’spreferences as to where they live.
Newman says this is a new, broader way ofconsidering public transport issues. In the past, the case for public transporthas been made on the basis of environmental and social justice considerationsrather than economics. Newman, however, believes the study demonstrates that‘the auto-dependent city model is inefficient and grossly inadequate ineconomic as well as environmental terms’.
Bicycle use was not included in the studybut Newman noted that the two most ‘bicycle friendly’ cities considered —Amsterdam and Copenhagen — were very efficient, even though their publictransport systems were ‘reasonable but not special’.
It is common for supporters of road networksto reject the models of cities with good public transport by arguing that suchsystems would not work in their particular city. One objection is climate. Somepeople say their city could not make more use of public transport because it iseither too hot or too cold. Newman rejects this, pointing out that publictransport has been successful in both Toronto and Singapore and, in fact, hehas checked the use of cars against climate and found ‘zero correlation’.
When it comes to other physical features,road lobbies are on stronger ground. For example, Newman accepts it would behard for a city as hilly as Auckland to develop a really good rail network.However, he points out that both Hong Kong and Zurich have managed to make asuccess of their rail systems, heavy and light respectively, though there arefew cities in the world as hilly.
A
In fact,Newman believes the main reason for adopting one sort of transport over anotheris politics: ‘The more democratic the process, the more public transport isfavored.’ He considers Portland, Oregon, a perfect example of this. Some yearsago, federal money was granted to build a new road. However, local pressuregroups forced a referendum over whether to spend the money on light railinstead. The rail proposal won and the railway worked spectacularly well. Inthe years that have followed, more and more rail systems have been put in,dramatically changing the nature of the city. Newman notes that Portland hasabout the same population as Perth and had a similar population density at thetime.
B
In theUK, travel times to work had been stable for at least six centuries, withpeople avoiding situations that required them to spend more than half an hourtravelling to work. Trains and cars initially allowed people to live at greaterdistances without taking longer to reach their destination. However, publicinfrastructure did not keep pace with urban sprawl, causing massive congestionproblems which now make commuting times far higher.
C
There isa widespread belief that increasing wealth encourages people to live fartherout where cars are the only viable transport. The example of European citiesrefutes that. They are often wealthier than their American counterparts buthave not generated the same level of car use. In Stockholm, car use hasactually fallen in recent years as the city has become larger and wealthier. Anew study makes this point even more starkly. Developing cities in Asia, suchas Jakarta and Bangkok, make more use of the car than wealthy Asian cities suchas Tokyo and Singapore. In cities that developed later, the World Bank andAsian Development Bank discouraged the building of public transport and peoplehave been forced to rely on cars — creating the massive traffic jams thatcharacterize those cities.
D
Newmanbelieves one of the best studies on how cities built for cars might beconverted to rail use is The Urban Village report, which used Melbourne as anexample. It found that pushing everyone into the city centre was not the bestapproach. Instead, the proposal advocated the creation of urban villages athundreds of sites, mostly around railway stations.
E
It wasonce assumed that improvements in telecommunications would lead to moredispersal in the population as people were no longer forced into cities.However, the ISTP team’s research demonstrates that the population and jobdensity of cities rose or remained constant in the 1980s after decades ofdecline. The explanation for this seems to be that it is valuable to placepeople working in related fields together. ‘The new world will largely dependon human creativity, and creativity flourishes where people come togetherface-to-face.’
Questions 6-10
Do the following statements agree with theinformation given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with theinformation
FALSE if the statement contradicts theinformation
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
6 The ISTP study examined public and privatesystems in every city of the world.
7 Efficient cities can improve the qualityof life for their inhabitants.
8 An inner-city tram network is dangerousfor car drivers.
9 In Melbourne, people prefer to live in theouter suburbs.
10 Cities with high levels of bicycle usagecan be efficient even when public transport is only averagely good.
Questions 11-13
Look at the following cities (Questions11-13) and the list of descriptions below.
Match each city with the correct description,A-F.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes11-13 on your answer sheet.
11 Perth
12 Auckland
13 Portland
List of Descriptions
A successfully uses a light rail transportsystem in hilly environment
B successful public transport system despitecold winters
C profitably moved from road to light railtransport system
D hilly and inappropriate for rail transportsystem
E heavily dependent on cars despitewidespread poverty
F inefficient due to a limited publictransport system
答案:
Question 1
答案: ii
关键词:people power exercise
定位原文: A段第1句“In fact…”
解题思路:“The more democratic the process, the morepublic transport is favored.”就是暗示人民成功地履行了权利。
Question 2
答案: vii
关键词: increase travelling time
定位原文: B段最后1句“However…”
解题思路: 最后一句中的However是完成此题的关键。本段首句提到通勤时间在过去至少六百年中都维持不变,很有误导作用,但是接下来的However又引出...causing massive congestion problems which now make commuting times farhigher, commuting 对应heading中的travelling。
故正确答案是vii。
Question 3
答案: iv
关键词:higher incomes not more cars
定位原文: C段前两句“There is…”
解题思路: 第2句的refutes that 表示否定了第1句的观点,因此只有iv符合。
Question 4
答案: i
关键词: avoid overcrowded centre
定位原文: D段最后1句“Instead…”
解题思路: instead是一个转折连接词,后面的观点与前者刚好相反。上一句说 pushing everyone into the citycentre was not the best approach,刚好证明我们应该避免造成一个过度拥挤的市中心。
Question 5
答案: iii
关键词:working together
定位原文: E段第3句“The explanation…”
解题思路: 定位句强调了人们在相关的领域一起工作非常重要,iii对应这个自然段内容。
Question 6
答案: FALSE
关键词:ISTP study
定位原文: 第1段第2、3句“The study compared…”
解题思路: 原文说的是thirty-seven cities around theworlds,与题干表述相互抵触。
Question 7
答案: TRUE
关键词: efficient / improve the quality
定位原文: 第2段最后1句“...these more efficient cities…”
解题思路: “创造出更好的居住环境”就是“改善了居民的居住环境”。
Question 8
答案:NOT GIVEN
关键词:inner-city/ tram network/ dangerous/ cardrivers
定位原文: 第3段第3句“Melbourne’s large…”
解题思路: 谈到有轨电车系统使汽车的使用率降低了许多,但并未谈及私家车驾驶者。
Question 9
答案:FALSE
关键词: Melbourne/ outer suburbs
定位原文: 第3段最后1句“The explosion…”
解题思路: as to =concerning 就……方面;关于。这句话正说明人们喜欢住在近郊而非远郊。
Question 10
答案: TRUE
关键词: bicycle/ public transport
定位原文: 第5段的唯一一句话“Bicycle use…”
解题思路: averagely good与 reasonable but not special是同义表达。
Question 11
答案: F
关键词:Perth
定位原文: 第2段第1句和第4句
解题思路: 第二段第一句说Perth有minimal public transport,即相当于题干中的limited public transport system,下面又说Perth之外的一些城市是more efficient cities,所以正确答案为F。
Question 12
答案: D
关键词:Auckland
定位原文: 第7段第2句
解题思路: 提到 it would be hard for a city ashilly as Auckland to develop a really good rail network,所以 Auckland 当然是hilly,既然“难以建立很好的轨道系统”,当然是不适合建这样的系统了。正确答案是D。
Question 13
答案:C
关键词:Portland
定位原文: A段的倒数第3句“The rail proposal…”
解题思路: 轨道运行良好肯定是盈利的。正确答案是C。
Passage2:节食对健康长寿的作用
Passage3:语言的起眼
听力
Part 1兴趣班课程介绍
难易度: 一般
题型:填空
1. morning
2. French
3. first
4. money
5. painting
6. brushes
7. girl’s
8. 15thJune
9. J52
10. station
Part 2:公园
难易度:一般
题型:选择+匹配
11-14 选择
11.B
12.A
13.B
14.C
15-20 匹配
15.G
16.H
17.A
18.E
19.D
20.F
Part 3:市场营销
难易度: 一般
题型:单选+多选
21.Whydid Portlands ask for help with their marketing strategy?
B.Theircurrent approach was unsystematic
22.Whywere Amelia and Bryn lucky to be assigned to Portlands?
A.Thecompany was very willing to share information
23.Whatwas the most common problem with Portlands Clientdatabase?
C.Somecomplaints were entered more than once
24.Whataction has Portlands now taken to improve their database?
B.Theyhave made arrangements for ongoing maintenance
25.Accordingto the students survey results, Portlands is appreciatedfor its
A.customerrelationsmarketing literature did the students
26.Whichaspect ofPortlandssuggest an improvement to
C.theway it used
27-30多选
27-28.Whichtwo disadvantages of SMS marketing do the students thinkare the mostimportant?
D.themessages have be short
E.thesystem is subject to regulation
29-30.Whichtwo pieces of advice does the tutor give the students abouttheir presentation?
B.checktimings
C.becreative
Part 4 :枫糖
难易度: 一般
题型:填空
31.Night and day temperatures are very different
32.Maple syrup was first used to cook meat
33. Sapcollection in spring developed into a tradition
34.Using hot stones to produce steam
35.Removing the layer of ice on the top
36.European settlers put the syrup in various types of medicine
37. Whenthe tax on Caribbean sugar was removed
38.Harvests may be affected by storms and destructive insects
39.Maple syrup is expensive and faces considerable competition
40. Itis quite healthy compared with other sweeteners
大作文:
Some people think that the best way tobecome successful in life is to get a university education, whereas others saythis is no longer true. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.
范文:
Intoday's discourse on success, there's a contentious debate over the role ofuniversity education. Some argue that a university degree is the key tosuccess, while others assert that it's no longer a prerequisite. In this essay,I will explore both perspectives and argue that, despite the changinglandscape, a university education remains a crucial factor in achievingsuccess.
On theone hand, advocates for university education argue that it equips individualswith the necessary knowledge and skills required for success in a competitivejob market. A university degree is perceived as a hallmark of intellectualachievement, providing a comprehensive understanding of various subjects andfostering critical thinking abilities. Furthermore, universities often serve ashubs for networking, offering students opportunities to build connections withpeers, professors, and industry professionals, which can significantly enhancecareer prospects.
On theother hand, an opposing viewpoint suggests that success can be achieved throughalternative paths that do not necessitate a university education. Proponents ofthis perspective emphasize the changing dynamics of the job market, wherepractical skills, vocational training, and entrepreneurial ventures are gainingprominence. Examples of highly successful individuals who have excelled withouttraditional degrees, such as tech entrepreneurs and self-taught professionals,illustrate that success is attainable through diverse routes.
Inconclusion, while the evolving nature of success and the job market has ledsome to question the necessity of a university education, I firmly believe thatobtaining a degree continues to be a fundamental and invaluable step towardsachieving success in today's dynamic and competitive world.
ContentiousDebate:
有争议的辩论
Intoday's contentious debate on environmental policies, experts discuss thebalance between economic growth and ecological sustainability.
Prerequisite:
先决条件
Proficiencyin the English language is often seen as a prerequisite for success in manyinternational business environments.
Hallmarkof Intellectual Achievement:
知识成就的象征
Hisgroundbreaking research in physics became a hallmark of intellectualachievement in the scientific community.
DiverseRoutes:
多样化的途径The concept of entrepreneurship encouragesindividuals to explore diverse routes to success, beyond traditional careerpaths
.InvaluableStep:
无法估量的重要步骤
Gaininginternational exposure through cultural exchange programs can be viewed as aninvaluable step for personal and professional development.