CET4

Have you ever used email to apologize to a colleague? Delivered a 26 to a subordinate（下属）with a voice-mail message? Flown by plane across the country just to deliver important news in person? The various communication options at our fingertips today can be good for 27 and productivity-and at the same time very troublesome. With so many ways to communicate, how should a manager choose the one that’s best— 28 when the message to be delivered is bad or unwelcome news for the recipient? We’ve 29 business communication consultants and etiquette（礼仪）experts to come up with the following guidelines for 30 using the alternative ways of delivering difficult messages.

First of all, choose how personal you want to be. A face-to-face communication is the most 31. Other choices, in descending order of personalization, are; a real-time phone call, a voice-mail message, a handwritten note, a typewritten letter, and the most 32 is email. Some of these may change order according to the 33 situation or your own preferences; for example, a handwritten note might seem more personal than voice-mail. How do you decide on the best choice for the difficult message you’ve got to deliver? “My 34 concern is: How can I soften or civilize this message?” says etiquette expert Dana Casperson. “So when I apologize, usually choose in-person first, or a phone conversation as my top alternative, and maybe a handwritten note next. Apologizing by email is something I now totally 35.”

A）avoid
B）convenience
C）effectively
D）escape
E）intimate
F）particularly
G）primary
H）prompt
I）reward
J）silent
K）specific
L）surveyed
M）unfriendly
N）warning
O）witnessed

How a Poor，Abandoned Parisian Boy Became a Top Chef

A) The busy streets in Paris were uneven and caked in thick mud, but there was always a breathtaking sight to see in the shop windows of Patisserie de la Rue de la Paix. By 1814, people crowded outside the bakery, straining for a glimpse of the latest sweet food created by the young chef who worked inside.

B) His name was Marie-Antoine Carême, and he had appeared, one day, almost out of nowhere. But in his short lifetime, which ended exactly 184 years ago today, he would forever revolutionize French gourmet food（美食）, write best-selling cook books and think up magical dishes for royals and other important people.

C) Carême’s childhood was one part tragedy, equal part mystery. Born the 16th child to poor parents in Paris in either 1783 or 1784, a young Carême was suddenly abandoned at the height of the French Revolution. At 8 years old, he worked as a kitchen boy for a restaurant in Paris in exchange for room and board. By age 15, he had become an apprentice（学徒）to Sylvain Bailly, a well-known dessert chef with a successful bakery in one of Paris’s most fashionable neighborhoods.

D) Carême was quick at learning in the kitchen. Bailly encouraged his young apprentice to learn to read and write. Carême would often spend his free afternoons at the nearby National Library reading books on art and architecture. In the back room of the little bakery his interest in design and his baking talent combined to work wonders-he shaped delicious masterpieces out of flour, butter and sugar.

E) In his teenage years, Carême fashioned eatable copies of the late 18th century’s most famous buildings-cookies in the shape of ruins of ancient Athens and pies in the shape of ancient Chinese palaces and temples. Sylvain Bailly, his master, displayed these luxuriant creations-often as large as 4 feet tall-in his bakery windows.

F) Carême’s creations soon captured the discriminating eye of a French diplomat, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord. Around 1804, Talleyrand challenged Carême to produce a full menu for his personal castle, instructing the young baker to use local, seasonal fruits and vegetables and to avoid repeating main dishes over the course of an entire year. The experiment was a grand success and Talleyrand’s association with French nobility would prove a profitable connection for Carême.

G) French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was known to be unimpressed by the declining taste of early 18th century cooking, but under pressure to entertain Paris’s high society, he too called Carême to his kitchen at Tuileries Palace. In 1810, Carême designed the extraordinary cake for the wedding of Napoleon and his second bride, Marie-Louise of Austria. He became one of the first modern chefs to focus on the appearance of his table, not just the flavor of his dishes. “I want order and taste. A well-displayed meal is enhanced one hundred percent in my eyes,” he later wrote in one of his cook books.

H) In 1816, Carême began a culinary（烹饪的）journey which would forever mark his place as history’s first top chef. He voyaged to England to cook in the modern Great Kitchen of the prince regent（摄政王）, George IV, and crossed continents to prepare grand banquets for the tables of Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Never afraid to talk up his own accomplishments, a boastful Carême made a fortune as wealthy families with social ambitions invited him to their kitchens. Later, in his cook books, he would often include a sketch of himself, so that people on the street would be able to recognize-and admire-him.

I) Carême’s cooking displays became the symbol of fine French dining; they were plentiful, beautiful and imposing. Guests would fall silent in wonder as servants carried Carême’s fancy creations into the dining hall. For a banquet celebrating the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia’s visit to George IV’s Brighton Pavillion on Jan. 18, 1817, the menu featured 120 different dishes, highlighting eight different soups, 40 main courses, and 32 desserts.

J) As he traveled through the homes of early 19th century nobility, Carême forged the new art of French gourmet food. Locked in hot kitchens, Carême created his four “mother sauces.” These sauces-béchamel, velouté, espagnole and allemande-formed the central building blocks for many French main courses. He also perfected the soufflé-a baked egg dish, and introduced the standard chef’s uniform-the same double-breasted white coat and tall white hat still worn by many chefs today. The white clothing conveyed an image of cleanliness, according to Carême-and in his realm, appearance was everything.

K) Between meals, Carême wrote cook books that would be used in European kitchens for the next century. His manuals including The Royal Parisian Baker and the massive five-volume Art of French Cooking Series (1833-1847, completed after his death) first systematized many basic principles of cooking, complete with drawings and step-by-step directions. Long before television cooking shows, Carême walked readers through common kitchen tasks, instructing them to “try this for yourself, at home” as famous American Chef Julia Child might do, many years later.

L) In the end, however, it was the kitchen that did Carême in. Decades of working over coal fires in tight, closed spaces with little fresh air (to ensure his dishes would not get cold) had fatally damaged his lungs. On Jan.12, 1883, Carême died just before he turned 50.

M) But in his lifetime, Carême, ever confident, could see beyond his short domination in the kitchen.

He wanted to “set the standard for beauty in classical and modern cooking, and prove to the distant future that the French chefs of the 19th century were the most famous in the world,” as he wrote in his papers.

N) Decades later, chef Auguste Escoffier would build upon Carême’s concept of French cuisine（烹饪）.But in the very beginning, there was just Carême, the top chef who elevated dining into art.

36. Carême was among the first chefs who stressed both the appearance and flavor of dishes.
37. Carême wanted to show to later generations that French chefs of his time were most outstanding in the world.
38. Carême benefited greatly from serving a French diplomat and his connections.
39. Carême learned his trade from a famous dessert chef in Paris.
40. Carême’s creative works were exhibited in the shop windows by his master.
41. Carême’s knowledge of art and architecture helped him create extraordinary desserts out of ordinary ingredients.
42. Many people in Paris were eager to have a look at the latest sweet food made by Carême.
43. Carême became extremely wealthy by cooking for rich and socially ambitious families.
44. Carême’s writings dealt with fundamental cooking principles in a systematic way.
45. Carême’s contribution to French cooking was revolutionary.

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

Roughly the size of a soda can, sitting on a bookshelf, a relatively harmless gadget may be turning friends away from your home. The elephant in your living room is your Internet-connected security camera, a device people are increasingly using for peace of mind in their homes. But few stop to think about the effect these devices may have on house guests. Should you tell your friends, for instance, that they’re being recorded while you all watch the big game together?

"It’s certainly new territory, especially as home security cameras become easier to install, "says Lizzie Post, president of the Emily Post Institute, America’s foremost manners advisors. “I think it will be very interesting to see what etiquette（礼仪）emerges in terms of whether you tell people you have a camera or not, and whether guests have a right to ask that it be turned off, if it’s not a security issue.”

Post wants to make clear that she’s not talking about legal rights, but rather personal preferences. She also wants to explain that there are no right or wrong answers regarding manners on this front yet, because the technology is just now becoming mainstream. Besides, the Emily Post Institute doesn’t dictate manners.

When it comes to security cameras, Post says it’s a host’s responsibility to make sure guests feel comfortable within their home. “I’m always a fan of being open and honest.” For instance, if the host casually acknowledges that there is a camera in the room by telling a story about it, that may be enough to provide an opening for a guest to say if they are uncomfortable.

However, if a contractor is working in your home, you don’t need to tell them that there are cameras watching. Then again, the air of accountability that the camera generates can also work in contractors’ favor. “If anything does go wrong while they’re in the house, they don’t want to be blamed for it,” she says. “In fact, the camera could be the thing that proves that they didn’t steal the $20, or knock the vase off the table.”

46. For what reason may your friends feel reluctant to visit your home?
    A) The security camera installed may intrude into their privacy.
    B) They don’t want their photos to be circulated on the Internet.
    C) The security camera may turn out to be harmful to their health.
    D) They may not be willing to interact with your family members.
47. What does Lizzie Post say is new territory?
    A) The effect of manners advice on the public.
    B) Cost of applying new technologies at home.
    C) The increasing use of home security devices.
    D) Etiquette around home security cameras.
48. What is Lizzie Post mainly discussing with regard to the use of home security cameras?
    A) Legal rights.
    B) Moral issues.
    C) Likes and dislikes of individuals.
    D) The possible impact on manners.
49. What is a host’s responsibility regarding security cameras, according to Lizzie Post?
    A) Making their guests feel at ease.
    B) Indicating where they are.
    C) Turning them off in time.
    D) Ensuring their guests’ privacy.
50. In what way can the home security camera benefit visitors to your home?
    A) It can satisfy their curiosity.
    B) It can prove their innocence.
    C) It can help them learn new technology.
    D) It can make their visit more enjoyable.

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

PepsiCo is to spend billions of dollars to develop drinks and snacks and reformulate existing ones with lower sugar, salt and fat, as consumers demand healthier options and regulatory pressure intensifies amid an obesity epidemic（流行病）.

The maker of Mountain Dew and Gatorade has been one of the earlier movers in the industry to offer products with reduced levels of unhealthy ingredients-PepsiCo claims a packet of its chips now contains less salt than a slice of white bread. However, its new 10-year plan makes clear it believes it still has a long way to go.

Shifting eating habits, including a sharp drop in consumption of sparkling drinks, have forced radical change on the industry. But those shifts have yet to be reflected in record obesity levels, which stand at 36.5%overall in the US.

Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman, said the plan to make its products healthier was important for the company’s growth. But on the subject of obesity, she pointed out that consumers’ lifestyles have changed significantly, with many people being more sedentary（久坐不动的）not least because more time is spent in front of computers. She said PepsiCo’s contribution was to produce healthier snacks that still tasted good.

“Society has to change its habits,” she added. “We can’t do much to alter sedentary lifestyles, but we can provide consumers with great-tasting products, low in salt, sugar and fat. In the past we had to have a taste trade-off. But we’re breaking that trade-off.”

PepsiCo’s plan for its foods and drinks is based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation, which last week backed using taxes on sparkling drinks to reduce sugar consumption. Initiatives also include efforts to reduce its environmental impact, water consumption and materials used in packaging by 2025.

PepsiCo did not say exactly how much it planned to invest to reach its goals. However, Dr Mehmood Khan, chief scientific officer, said the company had doubled research and development spending in the past five years and was “committed to sustaining investment”, adding that companies cannot cost-cut their way to increasing sales. PepsiCo’s research and development budget in 2015 was $754 million.

51. Why is PepsiCo making a policy change?
    A) To win support from the federal government.
    B) To be more competitive in the global market.
    C) To satisfy the growing needs for healthy foods.
    D) To invest more wisely in the soft drink industry.
52. What does PepsiCo think it will have to do in the future?
    A) Invest more to develop new snacks.
    B) Reduce levels of obesity in the US.
    C) Change consumers’ eating habits.
    D) Keep on improving its products.
53. Why does PepsiCo plan to alter its products, according to Indra Nooyi?
    A) To ensure the company’s future development.
    B) To adapt to its customers’ changed taste.
    C) To help improve its consumers’ lifestyles.
    D) To break the trade-off in its product design.
54. What does Indra Nooyi say about the obesity epidemic?
    A) It is mainly caused by overconsumption of snacks.
    B) It results from high sugar and salt consumption.
    C) It is attributable to people’s changed lifestyles.
    D) It has a lot to do with longer working hours.
    55.What has PepsiCo been doing to achieve its objective?
    A) Studying WHO’s guidelines.
    B) Increasing its research funding.
    C) Expanding its market overseas.
    D) Cutting its production costs.

Millions die early from air pollution each year. Air pollution costs the global economy more than $5 trillion annually in welfare costs, with the most serious damage occurring in the developing world.

The figures include a number of costs associate with air pollution. Lost income alone amounts to $225 billion a year.

The report includes both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Indoor pollution, which includes sources like home heating and cooking, has remained constant over the past several decades despite advances in the area. Levels of outdoor pollution have grown rapidly along with rapid growth in industry and transportation.

Director of Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Chris Murray described it as an “urgent call to action.” One of the risk factors for premature deaths is the air we breathe, over which individuals have little control , he said.

The effects of air pollution are worst in the developing world, where in some places lost-labor income equals nearly 1% of GDP. Around 9 in 10 people in low and middle-income countries live in places where they regularly experience dangerous levels of outdoor air pollution.

But the problem is not limited exclusively to the developing world. Thousands die prematurely in the U. S. as a result of related illnesses. In many European countries, where diesel (柴油) vehicles have become more common in recent years, that number reaches tens of thousands.

A) ability
B) associate
C) consciously
D) constant
E) control
F) damage
G) described
H) equals
I) exclusively
J) innovated
K) regularly
L) relates
M) sources
N) undermine
O) vehicles

Food-as-Medicine Movement Is Witnessing Progress

A) Several times a month, you can find a doctor in the aisles of Ralph’s market in Huntington Beach, California, wearing a white coat and helping people learn about food. On one recent day, this doctor was Daniel Nadeau, wandering the cereal aisle with Allison Scott, giving her some idea on how to feed kids who persistently avoid anything that is healthy. “Have you thought about trying fresh juices in the morning?” he asks her. “The frozen oranges and apples are a little cheaper, and fruits are really good for the brain. Juices are quick and easy to prepare; you can take the frozen fruit out the night before and have it ready the next morning.”

B) Scott is delighted to get food advice from a physician who is program director of the nearby Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center, part of the St. Joseph Hoag Health alliance. The center’s “Shop with Your Doc” program sends doctors to the grocery store to meet with any patients who sign up for the service, plus any other shoppers who happen to be around with questions.

C) Nаdеаu nоtісеѕ thе рrе-mаdе mасаrоnі（通心粉）-аnd-сhееѕе bохеѕ іn Ѕсоtt’ѕ ѕhорріng саrt аnd suggests she switch to whole grain macaroni and real cheese. “So I’d have to make it?” she asks, her enthusiasm fading at the thought of how long that might take, just to have her kids reject it. “I’m not sure they’d eat it. They just won’t eat it.”

D) Nadeau says sugar and processed foods are big contributors to the rising diabetes rates among children. “In America, over 50 percent of our food is processed food,” Nadeau tells her. “And only 5 percent of our food is plant-based food. I think we should try to reverse that.” Scott agrees to try more fruit juices for the kids and to make real macaroni and cheese. Score one point for the doctor, zero for diabetes.

E) Nadeau is part of a small revolution developing across California. The food-as-medicine movement has been around for decades, but it’s making progress as physicians and medical institutions make food a formal part of treatment, rather than relying solely on medications（药物）. By prescribing nutritional changes or launching programs such as “Shop with Your Doc”, they are trying to prevent, limit or even reverse disease by changing what patients eat. “There’s no question people can take things a long way toward reversing diabetes, reversing high blood pressure, even preventing cancer by food choices,” Nadeau says.

F) In the big picture, says Dr. Richard Afable, CEO and president of St. Joseph Hoag Health, medical institutions across the state are starting to make a philosophical switch to becoming a health organization, not just a health care organization. That feeling echoes the beliefs of the Therapeutic Food Pantry program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which completed its pilot phase and is about to expand on an ongoing basis to five clinic sites throughout the city. The program will offer patients several bags of food prescribed for their condition, along with intensive training in how to cook it. “We really want to link food and medicine, and not just give away food,” says Dr. Rita Nguyen, the hospital’s medical director of Healthy Food Initiatives. “We want people to understand what they’re eating, how to prepare it, the role food plays in their lives.”

G) In Southern California, Loma Linda University School of Medicine is offering specialized training for its resident physicians in Lifestyle Medicine—that is a formal specialty in using food to treat disease. Research findings increasingly show the power of food to treat or reverse diseases, but that does not mean that diet alone is always the solution, or that every illness can benefit substantially from dietary changes. Nonetheless, physicians say that they look at the collective data and a clear picture emerges: that the salt, sugar, fat and processed foods in the American diet contribute to the nation’s high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of deaths from heart disease and stroke are caused by high blood, pressure, tobacco use, elevated cholesterol and low consumption of fruits and vegetables.

H) “It’s a different paradigm（范式）of how to treat disease,” says Dr. Brenda Rea, who helps run the family and preventive medicine residency program at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. The lifestyle medicine specialty is designed to train doctors in how to prevent and treat disease, in part, by changing patient’s nutritional habits. The medical center and school at Loma Linda also has a food cupboard and kitchen for patients. This way, patients not only learn about which foods to buy, but also how to prepare them at home.

I) Many people don’t know how to cook, Rea says, and they only know how to heat things up. That means depending on packaged food with high salt and sugar content. So teaching people about which foods are healthy and how to prepare them, she says, can actually transform a patient’s life. And beyond that, it might transform the health and lives of that patient’s family. “What people eat can be medicine or poison,” Rea says. “As a physician, nutrition is one of the most powerful things you can change to reverse the effects of long-term disease.”

J) Studies have explored evidence that dietary changes can slow inflammation（炎症）, for example, or make the body inhospitable to cancer cell. In general, many lifestyle medicine physicians recommend a plant-based diet—particularly for people with diabetes or other inflammatory conditions.

K) “As what happened with tobacco, this will require a cultural shift, but that can happen,” says Nguyen. “In the same way physicians used to smoke, and then stopped smoking and were able to talk to patients about it, I think physicians can have a bigger voice in it.”

36. More than half of the food Americans eat is factory-produced.
37. There is a special program that assigns doctors to give advice to shoppers in food stores.
38. There is growing evidence from research that food helps patients recover from various illnesses.
39. A healthy breakfast can be prepared quickly and easily.
40. Training a patient to prepare healthy food can change their life.
41. One food-as -medicine program not only prescribes food for treatment but teaches patients how to cook it.
42. Scott is not keen on cooking food herself, thinking it would simply be a waste of time.
43. Diabetes patients are advised to eat more plant-based food.
44. Using food as medicine is no novel idea, but the movement is making headway these days.
45. Americans’ high rates of various illnesses result from the way they eat.

DBGAI FCJRG

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

California has been facing a drought for many years now, with certain areas even having to pump freshwater hundreds of miles to their distribution system. The problem is growing as the population of the state continues to expand. New research has found deep water reserves under the state which could help solve their drought crisis. Previous drilling of wells could only reach depths of 1,000 feet, but due to new pumping practices, water deeper than this can now be extracted （抽取）. The team at Stanford investigated the aquifers（地下蓄水层）below this depth and found that reserves may be triple what was previously thought.

It is profitable to drill to depths more than 1,000 feet for oil and gas extraction, but only recently in California has it become profitable to pump water from this depth. The aquifers range from 1,000 to3,000 feet below the ground, which means that pumping will be expensive and there are other concerns. The biggest concern of pumping out water from this deep is the gradual setting down of the land surface. As the water is pumped out, the vacant space left is compacted by the weight of the earth above.

Even though pumping from these depths is expensive, it is still cheaper than desalinating（脱盐）the ocean water in the largely coastal state. Some desalination plants exist where feasible, but they are costly to run and can need constant repairs. Wells are much more reliable sources of freshwater, and California is hoping that these deep wells may be the answer to their severe water shortage.

One problem with these sources is that the deep water also has a higher level of salt than shallower aquifers. This means that some wells may even need to undergo desalination after extraction, thus increasing the cost. Research from the exhaustive study of groundwater from over 950 drilling logs has just been published. New estimates of the water reserves now go up to 2,700 billion cubic meters of freshwater.

46. How could California’s drought crisis be solved according to some researchers?
    A) By building more reserves of groundwater.
    B) By drawing water from the depths of the earth.
    C) By developing more advanced drilling devices.
    D) By upgrading its water distribution system.
47. What can be inferred about extracting water from deep aquifers?
    A) It was deemed vital to solving the water problem.
    B) It was not considered worth the expense.
    C) It may not provide quality freshwater.
    D) It is bound to gain support from the local people.
48. What is mentioned as a consequence of extracting water from deep underground?
    A) The sinking of land surface.
    B) The harm to the ecosystem.
    C) The damage to aquifers.
    D) The change of the climate.
49. What does the author say about deep wells?
    A) They run without any need for repairs.
    B) They are entirely free from pollutants.
    C) They are the ultimate solution to droughts.
    D) They provide a steady supply of freshwater.
50. What may happen when deep aquifers are used as water sources?
    A) People’s health may improve with cleaner water.
    B) People’s water bills may be lowered considerably.
    C) The cost may go up due to desalination.
    D) They may be exhausted sooner or later.

BBADC

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

The AlphaGo programs victory is an example of how smart computers have become.

But can artificial intelligence (AI) machines act ethically, meaning can they be honest and fair?

One example of AI is driverless cars. They are already on California roads, so it is not too soon to ask whether we can program a machine to act ethically. As driverless cars improve, they will save lives. They will make fewer mistakes than human drivers do. Sometimes, however, they will face a choice between lives. Should the cars be programmed to avoid hitting a child running across the road, even if that will put their passengers at risk? What about making a sudden turn to avoid a dog? What if the only risk is damage to the car itself, not to the passengers?

Perhaps there will be lessons to learn from driverless cars, but they are not super-intelligent beings. Teaching ethics to a machine even more intelligent than we are will be the bigger challenge.

About the same time as AlphaGo’s triumph, Microsoft’s ‘chatbot’ took a bad turn. The software, named Taylor, was designed to answer messages from people aged 18-24. Taylor was supposed to be able to learn from the messages she received. She was designed to slowly improve her ability to handle conversations, but some people were teaching Taylor racist ideas. When she started saying nice things about Hitler, Microsoft turned her off and deleted her ugliest messages.

AlphaGo’s victory and Taylor’s defeat happened at about the same time. This should be a warning to us. It is one thing to use AI within a game with clear rules and clear goals. It is something very different to use AI in the real world. The unpredictability of the real world may bring to the surface a troubling software problem.

Eric Schmidt is one of the bosses of Google, which owns AlphaGo. He thinks AI will be positive for humans. He said people will be the winner, whatever the outcome. Advances in AI will make human beings smarter, more able and “just better human beings.”

51. What does the author want to show with the example of AlphaGo’s victory?
    A) Computers will prevail over human beings.
    B) Computers have unmatched potential.
    C) Computers are man’s potential rivals.
    D) Computers can become highly intelligent.
52. What does the author mean by AI machines acting ethically?
    A) They are capable of predicting possible risks.
    B) They weigh the gains and losses before reaching a decision.
    C) They make sensible decisions when facing moral dilemmas.
    D) They sacrifice everything to save human lives.
53. What is said to be the bigger challenge facing humans in the AI age?
    A) How to make super-intelligent AI machines share human feelings.
    B) How to ensure that super-intelligent AI machines act ethically.
    C) How to prevent AI machines doing harm to humans.
    D) How to avoid being over-dependent on AI machines.
54. What do we learn about Microsoft’s “chatbot” Taylor?
    A) She could not distinguish good from bad.
    B) She could turn herself off when necessary.
    C) She was not made to handle novel situations.
    D) She was good at performing routine tasks.
55. What does Eric Schmidt think of artificial intelligence?
    A) It will be far superior to human beings.
    B) It will keep improving as time goes by.
    C) It will prove to be an asset to human beings.
    D) It will be here to stay whatever the outcome.

DCBAC

Neon (霓虹) is to Hong Kong as red phone booths are to London and fog is to San Francisco. When night falls, red and blue and other colors cast a hazy (雾蒙蒙的) glow over a city lit up by tens of thousands of neon signs. But many of them are going dark, replaced by more practical, but less romantic, LEDs (发光二极管).

霓虹灯到香港，就像红色电话亭到伦敦，雾气到旧金山。 夜幕降临时，红色、蓝色和其他颜色在城市上空投下朦胧的光辉，成千上万的霓虹灯招牌照亮了这座城市。 但其中许多正在变暗，取而代之的是更实用但不那么浪漫的 led。

Changing building codes, evolving tastes, and the high cost of maintaining those wonderful old signs have businesses embracing LEDs, which are energy efficient , but still carry great cost. “To me, neon represents memories of the past,” says photographer Sharon Blance, whose series Hong Kong Neon celebrates the city’s famous signs. “Looking at the signs now I get a feeling of amazement, mixed with sadness.”

不断变化的建筑规范，不断变化的品味，以及维护这些美妙的古老标志的高昂成本，使得企业开始接受 led，它是节能的，但仍然带来了巨大的成本。 "对我来说，霓虹灯代表着过去的记忆,"摄影师莎伦 · 平衡说，她的系列香港霓虹灯庆祝这座城市的著名标志。 “现在看着这些标志，我有一种惊讶的感觉，夹杂着悲伤。”

Building a neon sign is an art practiced by professionals trained on the job to mold glass tubes into decorative shapes and letters. They fill these tubes with gases that glow when electrified . Neon makes orange, while other gases make yellow or blue. It takes many hours to craft a single sign.

建造霓虹灯是一门艺术，专业人士经过专业训练，可以将玻璃管塑造成装饰形状和字母。 它们在这些管子中充满气体，气体通电时会发光。 氖变成橙色，而其他气体变成黄色或蓝色。 制作一个标志需要很长时间。

Blance spent a week in Hong Kong and photographed more than 60 signs; 22 of them appear in the series that capture the signs lighting up lonely streets—an approach that makes it easy to admire their colors and craftsmanship. “I love the beautiful, handcrafted, old-fashioned quality of neon,” says Blance. The signs do nothing more than identify a restaurant, theater, or other business, but do so in the most striking way possible.

斯坦斯在香港逗留了一周，拍摄了60多个招牌，其中22个出现在这个系列中，这些招牌照亮了孤独的街道ーー这种方式很容易让人钦佩它们的色彩和工艺。 "我喜欢美丽的，手工制作的，老式的霓虹灯质量,"平衡说。 这些标志只是用来识别一家餐馆、剧院或其他商业场所，但是它们的识别方式却是最惊人的。

A) alternative B) approach C) cast D) challenging E) decorative F) efficient G) electrified H) identify I) photographed J) professionals K) quality L) replaced M) stimulate N) symbolizes O) volunteers

选择，替代，替代方法，方法，途径，方法，途径，方法，方法，挑战，挑战，挑战，装饰，有效率的，有效率的，有效率的，有效率的，有效率的，高质量的，高素质的，高质量的，高品质的，高

New Jersey School District Eases Pressure on Students—Baring an Ethnic Divide

A) This fall, David Aderhold, the chief of a high-achieving school district near Princeton, New Jersey, sent parents an alarming 16-page letter. The school district, he said, was facing a crisis. Its students were overburdened and stressed out, having to cope with too much work and too many demands. In the previous school year, 120 middle and high school students were recommended for mental health assessments and 40 were hospitalized. And on a survey administered by the district, students wrote things like, “I hate going to school,” and “Coming out of 12 years in this district, I have learned one thing: that a grade, a percentage or even a point is to be valued over anything else.”

今年秋天，新泽西州普林斯顿附近一所成绩优异的学区的负责人戴维 · 阿德霍尔德(David Aderhold)给家长们发了一封长达16页的警告信。 他说，学区正面临着一场危机。 它的学生负担过重，压力过大，不得不应付太多的工作和太多的要求。 在上一学年，120名中学生被推荐接受心理健康评估，40名住院。 在该地区组织的一项调查中，学生们写道,“我讨厌上学”,“在这个地区生活了12年，我学到了一件事: 一个分数，一个百分比，甚至一个百分点，比其他任何东西都重要。”

B) With his letter, Aderhold inserted West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District into a national discussion about the intense focus on achievement at elite schools, and whether it has gone too far. At follow-up meetings, he urged parents to join him in advocating a “whole child” approach to schooling that respects “social-emotional development” and “deep and meaningful learning” over academics alone. The alternative, he suggested, was to face the prospect of becoming another Palo Alto, California, where outsize stress on teenage students is believed to have contributed to a number of suicides in the last six years.

在这封信中，阿德霍尔德将西温莎-普兰斯伯勒地区学区引入了一场全国性的讨论，讨论的主题是精英学校的成绩，以及这种讨论是否走得太远。 在后续会议上，他呼吁家长与他一起倡导"全儿童"教育方式，尊重"社会情感发展"和"深入而有意义的学习"，而不仅仅是学业。 他认为，另一种选择是面对成为另一个加州帕洛阿尔托的前景，在那里，青少年学生的过度压力被认为是导致过去六年中多起自杀事件的原因。

C) But instead of bringing families together, Aderhold’s letter revealed a divide in the district, which has 9,700 students, and one that broke down roughly along racial lines. On one side are white parents like Catherine Foley, a former president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association at her daughter’s middle school, who has come to see the district’s increasingly pressured atmosphere as opposed to learning. “My son was in fourth grade and told me, ‘I’m not going to amount to anything because I have nothing to put on my resume,’” she said. On the other side are parents like Mike Jia, one of the thousands of Asian-American professionals who have moved to the district in the past decade, who said Aderhold’s reforms would amount to a “dumbing down” of his children’s education. “What is happening here reflects a national anti-intellectual trend that will not prepare our children for the future,” Jia said.

但是，阿德霍尔德的信并没有把家庭团聚在一起，而是揭示了这个有9700名学生的学区的分歧，以及大致按照种族划分的分歧。 一方是像凯瑟琳 · 弗利(Catherine Foley)这样的白人家长。弗利曾在女儿就读的中学担任家长-教师-学生协会(Parent-Teacher-Student Association)主席，她开始意识到学区的压力越来越大，而不是学习。 她说:“我儿子上四年级的时候告诉我,'我不会有什么成就，因为我的简历上没什么可写的。”’。 另一方是像迈克 · 贾(Mike Jia)这样的家长，他是过去10年里搬到这个地区的数千名亚裔美国专业人士之一。他说，阿德霍尔德的改革相当于"降低"了他孩子的教育水平。 "这里发生的事情反映了一种全国性的反知识分子趋势，这不会让我们的孩子为未来做好准备,"贾说。

D) About 10 minutes from Princeton and an hour and a half from New York City, West Windsor and Plainsboro have become popular bedroom communities for technology entrepreneurs, researchers and engineers, drawn in large part by the public schools. From the last three graduating classes, 16 seniors were admitted to MIT. It produces Science Olympiad winners, classically trained musicians and students with perfect SAT scores.

离普林斯顿大约10分钟路程，离纽约大约一个半小时路程，西温莎和普莱恩斯伯勒已经成为科技企业家、研究人员和工程师们的热门居住区，这些居住区很大程度上被公立学校所吸引。 在过去的三个毕业班中，有16个大四学生被麻省理工录取。 它培养出了科学奥林匹克竞赛的获胜者，受过古典音乐训练的音乐家和 SAT 成绩优异的学生。

E) The district has become increasingly popular with immigrant families from China, India and Korea. This year, 65 percent of its students are Asian-American, compared with 44 percent in 2007. Many of them are the first in their families born in the United States. They have had a growing influence on the district. Asian-American parents are enthusiastic supporters of the competitive instrumental music program. They have been huge supporters of the district’s advanced mathematics program, which once began in the fourth grade but will now start in the sixth. The change to the program, in which 90 percent of the participating students are Asian-American, is one of Aderhold’s reforms.

这个地区越来越受到来自中国、印度和韩国的移民家庭的欢迎。 今年，该校65% 的学生是亚裔美国人，而2007年这一比例为44% 。 他们中的许多人是在美国出生的第一代。 他们对这个地区的影响越来越大。 亚裔美国家长是竞争激烈的器乐计划的热情支持者。 他们一直是学区高等数学项目的大力支持者，该项目曾在四年级开始，但现在将从六年级开始。 该项目90% 的参与学生都是亚裔美国人，该项目的变化是阿德霍尔德的改革之一。

F) Asian-American students have been eager participants in a state program that permits them to take summer classes off campus for high school credit, allowing them to maximize the number of honors and Advanced Placement classes they can take, another practice that Aderhold is limiting this school year. With many Asian-American children attending supplementary instructional programs, there is a perception among some white families that the elementary school curriculum is being sped up to accommodate them.

亚裔美国学生一直热衷于参加一个州立项目，该项目允许他们在校外参加暑期班以获得高中学分，这样他们就可以最大限度地获得荣誉和大学先修课程，这是 Aderhold 在本学年限制的另一个做法。 由于许多亚裔美国儿童参加补充教学项目，一些白人家庭认为，为了适应他们，小学课程正在加快。

G) Both Asian-American and white families say the tension between the two groups has grown steadily over the past few years, as the number of Asian families has risen. But the division has become more obvious in recent months as Aderhold has made changes, including no-homework nights, an end to high school midterms and finals, and an initiative that made it easier to participate in the music program.

亚裔美国人和白人家庭都表示，随着亚裔家庭数量的增加，这两个群体之间的紧张关系在过去几年中稳步加剧。 但最近几个月，随着阿德霍尔德做出一些改变，这种分歧变得更加明显，包括没有家庭作业的夜晚，高中期中考试和期末考试的结束，以及一项让参加音乐课程变得更加容易的举措。

H) Jennifer Lee, professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, and an author of the Asian American Achievement Paradox, says misunderstanding between first-generation Asian-American parents and those who have been in this country longer are common. What white middle-class parents do not always understand, she said, is how much pressure recent immigrants feel to boost their children into the middle class. “They don’t have the same chances to get their children internships (实习职位) or jobs at law firms,” Lee said. "So what they believe is that their children must excel and beat their white peers in academic settings so they have the same chances to excel later. "

加州大学欧文分校(University of California，Irvine)社会学教授、《亚裔美国人成就悖论》(Asian American Achievement Paradox)一书的作者珍妮弗•李(Jennifer Lee)表示，第一代亚裔美国人父母与那些在这个国家待得更久的人之间的误解很常见。 她说，中产阶级的白人父母并不总是理解，最近的移民为了让他们的孩子进入中产阶级感到有多大的压力。 “他们没有同样的机会让自己的孩子获得律师事务所的实习或工作。”。 “因此，他们认为，他们的孩子必须在学业方面胜过白人同龄人，这样他们以后才有同样的机会出类拔萃。”

I) The issue of the stresses felt by students in elite school districts has gained attention in recent years as schools in places like Newton, Massachusetts, and Palo Alto have reported a number of suicides. West Windsor-Plainsboro has not had a teenage suicide in recent years, but Aderhold, who has worked in the district for seven years and been chief for the last three years, said he had seen troubling signs. In a recent art assignments, a middle school student depicted (描绘) an overburdened child who was being scolded for earning an A, rather than an A+ , on a math exam. In the image, the mother scolds the student with the words, “Shame on you!” Further, he said, the New Jersey Education Department has flagged at least two pieces of writing on state English language assessments in which students expressed suicidal thoughts.

近年来，随着马萨诸塞州牛顿市和帕洛阿尔托市等地的学校报告了一系列自杀事件，精英学区学生的压力问题引起了人们的关注。 近年来，西温莎-普兰斯伯勒没有发生过青少年自杀事件，但阿德霍尔德说，他看到了一些令人不安的迹象。阿德霍尔德已在该地区工作了七年，在过去三年里一直担任主管。 在最近的一次美术作业中，一个中学生描绘了一个负担过重的孩子，他因为在数学考试中得了 a 而不是 a + 而受到责备。 在图片中，母亲斥责学生说:“你真可耻!” 此外，他说，新泽西州教育部已经标记了至少两篇关于州英语语言评估的文章，其中学生表达了自杀的想法。

J) The survey commissioned by the district found that 68 percent of high school honor and Advanced Placement students reported feeling stressed about school “always or most of the time.” “We need to bring back some balance,” Aderhold said. "You don’t want to wait until it’s too late to do something. "

该学区委托进行的这项调查发现，68% 的高中优等生和大学先修课程学生报告说，他们"总是或大部分时间"对学校感到压力 "我们需要恢复一些平衡,"阿德霍尔德说。 “你不想等到为时已晚的时候再做什么。”

K) Not all public opinion has fallen along racial lines. Karen Sue, the Chinese-American mother of a fifth-grader and an eighth-grader, believes the competition within the district has gotten out of control. Sue, who was born in the United States to immigrant parents, wants her peers to dial it back. “It’s become an arms race, an educational arms race,” she said. “We all want our kids to achieve and be successful. The question is, at what cost?”

并不是所有的公众意见都是按照种族划分的。 一个五年级学生和一个八年级学生的华裔母亲凯伦 · 苏(Karen Sue)认为，学区内的竞争已经失控。 出生在美国的苏的父母都是移民，她希望她的同龄人不要这么做。 "这已经变成了一场军备竞赛，一场教育军备竞赛,"她说。 “我们都希望我们的孩子取得成功。 问题是，代价是什么?”

36. Aderhold is limiting the extra classes that students are allowed to take off campus.

37. White and Asian-American parents responded differently to Aderhold’s appeal.

38. Suicidal thoughts have appeared in some students’ writings.

39. Aderhold’s reform of the advanced mathematics program will affect Asian-American students most.

40. Aderhold appealed for parents’ support in promoting an all-round development of children, instead of focusing only on their academic performance.

41. One Chinese-American parent thinks the competition in the district has gone too far.

42. Immigrant parents believe that academic excellence will allow their children equal chances to succeed in the future.

43. Many businessmen and professionals have moved to West Windsor and Plainsboro because of the public schools there.

44. A number of students in Aderhold’s school district were found to have stress-induced mental health problems.

45. The tension between Asian-American and white families has increased in recent years.

46. 阿德霍尔德正在限制允许学生离开校园的额外课程。

47. 对于阿德霍尔德的吸引力，白人和亚裔美国家长的反应不同。

48. 在一些学生的作品中出现了自杀的念头。

49. 阿德霍尔德对高等数学课程的改革对亚裔学生的影响最大。

50. 阿德霍尔德呼吁家长支持促进儿童的全面发展，而不是只关注他们的学业成绩。

51. 一位华裔美国家长认为，这个地区的竞争已经走得太远了。

52. 移民家长相信，优秀的学业能让他们的孩子在未来获得平等的成功机会。

53. 由于那里的公立学校，许多商人和专业人士搬到了西温莎和普莱恩斯伯勒。

54. 阿德霍尔德学区的一些学生被发现有压力引起的心理健康问题。

55. 近年来，亚裔美国人和白人家庭之间的紧张关系有所加剧。

FCIEB KHDAG

For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. “While we teach, we learn,” said Roman philosopher Seneca. Now scientists are bringing this ancient wisdom up-to-date. They’re documenting why teaching is such a fruitful way to learn, and designing innovative ways for young people to engage in instruction.

A new batch of young women—members of the so-called Millennial (千禧的) generation—has been entering the workforce for the past decade. At the starting line of their careers, they are better educated than their mothers and grandmothers had been—or than their young male counterparts are now. But when they look ahead, they see roadblocks to their success. They believe that women are paid less than men for doing the same job. They think it’s easier for men to get top executive jobs than it is for them. And they assume that if and when they have children, it will be even harder for them to advance in their careers.

过去十年来，一批新的年轻女性——即所谓的"千禧一代"——已经进入劳动力市场。 在她们职业生涯的起点，她们比她们的母亲和祖母受过更好的教育ーー或者比她们现在的年轻男性同事受过更好的教育。 但是当他们展望未来时，他们看到了通往成功的路障。 他们认为，做同样的工作，女性的报酬比男性低。 他们认为男性比女性更容易获得高管职位。 他们认为，如果他们有了孩子，他们的职业发展将更加困难。

While the public sees greater workplace equality between men and women now than it did 20-30 years ago, most believe more change is needed. Among Millennial women, 75% say this country needs to continue making changes to achieve gender equality in the workplace, compared with 57% of Millennial men. Even so, relatively few young women (15%) say they have been discriminated against at work because of their gender.

尽管与20-30年前相比，公众认为现在的男女工作场所更加平等，但大多数人认为还需要进行更多的改革。 在千禧一代的女性中，75% 的人认为这个国家需要继续做出改变，以实现工作场所的性别平等，而千禧一代的男性只有57% 。 即便如此，相对较少的年轻女性(15%)说她们在工作中因为性别而受到歧视。

As Millennial women come of age they share many of the same views and values about work as their male counterparts. They want jobs that provide security and flexibility, and they place relatively little importance on high pay. At the same time, however, young working women are less likely than men to aim at top management jobs: 34% say they’re not interested in becoming a boss or top manager; only 24% of young men say the same. The gender gap on this question is even wider among working adults in their 30s and 40s, when many women face the trade-offs that go with work and motherhood.

随着千禧一代女性成年，她们对工作的看法和价值观与男性同龄人有许多相同之处。 他们想要有安全感和灵活性的工作，他们对高薪的重视相对较少。 然而，与此同时，年轻的职业女性比男性更不可能瞄准最高管理层的工作: 34% 的人说她们对成为老板或最高管理者不感兴趣; 只有24% 的年轻男性说同样的话。 在这个问题上的性别差异在30多岁和40多岁的职业成年人中甚至更大，这时许多女性面临着工作和做母亲之间的权衡。

These findings are based on a new Pew Research Center survey of 2,002 adults, including 810 Millennials (ages 18-32), conducted Oct. 7-27, 2013. The survey finds that, in spite of the dramatic gains women have made in educat