Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic: Getting to Know the World Outside the Campus. You should write at least 100 words and you should base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
(1) 大学生了解社会的必要性。
(2) 了解社会的途径（大众媒介、社会服务等）
(3) 我打算怎么做。
Getting to Know the World Outside the Campus
Inequality Is Not Inevitable
A) A dangerous trend has developed over this past third of a century. A country that experienced shared growth after World War Ⅱ began to tear apart, so much so that when the Great Recession hit in late 2007, one could no longer ignore the division that had come to define the American economic landscape. How did this "shining city on a hill" become the advanced country with the greatest level of inequality?
B) Over the past year and a half, The Great Divide, a series in The New York Times, has presented a wide range of examples that undermine the notion that there are any truly fundamental laws of capitalism. The dynamics of the imperial capitalism of the 19th century needn't apply in the democracies of the 21st. We don't need to have this much inequality in America.
C) Our current brand of capitalism is a fake capitalism. For proof of this go back to our response to the Great Recession, where we socialized losses, even as we privatized gains. Perfect competition should drive profits to zero, at least theoretically, but we have monopolies making persistently high profits. CEOs enjoy incomes that are on average 295 times that of the typical worker, a much higher ratio than in the past, without any evidence of a proportionate increase in productivity.
D)If it is not the cruel laws of economics that have led to America's great divide, what is it? The straightforward answer: our policies and our politics. People get tired of hearing about Scandinavian success stories, but the fact of the matter is that Sweden, Finland and Norway have all succeeded in having about as much or faster growth in per capita (人均的) incomes than the United States and with far greater equality.
E) So why has America chosen these inequality-enhancing policies? Part of the answer is that as World War Ⅱ faded into memory, so too did the solidarity it had created. As America triumphed in the Cold War, there didn't seem to be a real competitor to our economic model. Without this international competition, we no longer had to show that our system could deliver for most of our citizens.
F) Ideology and interests combined viciously. Some drew the wrong lesson from the collapse of the Sovietsystem in 1991. The pendulum swung from much too much government there to much too little here. Corporate interests argued for getting rid of regulations, even when those regulations had done so much to protect and improve our environment, our safety, our health and the economy itself.
G) But this ideology was hypocritical (虚伪的). The bankers, among the strongest advocates of laissez-faire (自由放任的 ) economics, were only too willing to accept hundreds of billions of dollars from the government in the aid programs that have been a recurring feature of the global economy since the beginning of the Thatcher-Reagan era of "free" markets and deregulation.
H) The American political system is overrun by money. Economic inequality translates into political inequality, and political inequality yields increasing economic inequality. So corporate welfare increases as we reduce welfare for the poor. Congress maintains subsidies for rich farmers as we cut back on nutritional support for the needy. Drug companies have been given hundreds of billions of dollars as we limit Medicaid benefits. The banks that brought on the global financial crisis got billions while a tiny bit went to the homeowners and victims of the same banks' predatory (掠夺性的) lending practices. This last decision was particularly foolish. There were alternatives to throwing money at the banks and hoping it would circulate through increased lending.
I) Our divisions are deep. Economic and geographic segregation has immunized those at the top from the problems of those down below. Like the kings of ancient times, they have come to perceive their privileged positions essentially as a natural right.
J) Our economy, our democracy and our society have paid for these gross inequalities. The true test of an economy is not how much wealth its princes can accumulate in tax havens (庇护所), but how well off the typical citizen is. But average incomes are lower than they were a quarter-century ago. Growth has gone to the very, very top, whose share has almost increased four times since 1980. Money that was meant to have trickled (流淌) down has instead evaporated in the agreeable climate of the Cayman Islands.
K) With almost a quarter of American children younger than 5 living in poverty, and with America doing so little for its poor, the deprivations of one generation are being visited upon the next. Of course, no country has ever come close to providing complete equality of opportunity. But why is America one of the advanced countries where the life prospects of the young are most sharply determined by the income and education of their parents?
L) Among the most bitter stories in The Great Divide were those that portrayed the frustrations of the young, who long to enter our shrinking middle class. Soaring tuitions and declining incomes have resulted in larger debt burdens. Those with only a high school diploma have seen their incomes decline by 13 percent over the past 35 years.
M) Where justice is concerned, there is also a huge divide. In the eyes of the rest of the world and a significant part of its own population, mass imprisonment has come to define America-a country, it bears repeating, with about 5 percent of the world's population but around a fourth of the world's prisoners.
N) Justice has become a commodity, affordable to only a few. While Wall Street executives used their expensive lawyers to ensure that their ranks were not held accountable for the misdeeds that the crisis in 2008 so graphically revealed, the banks abused our legal system to foreclose (取消赎回权) on mortgages and eject tenants, some of whom did not even owe money.
O) More than a half-century ago, America led the way in advocating for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. Today, access to health care is among the most universally accepted rights, at least in the advanced countries. America, despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, is the exception. In the relief that many felt when the Supreme Court did not overturn the Affordable Care Act, the implications of the decision for Medicaid were not fully appreciated. Obamacare's objective--to ensure that all Americans have access to health care--has been blocked: 24 states have not implemented the expanded Medicaid program, which was the means by which Obamacare was supposed to deliver on its promise to some of the poorest.
P) We need not just a new war on poverty but a war to protect the middle class. Solutions to these problems do not have to be novel. Far from it. Making markets act like markets would be a good place to start. We must end the rent-seeking society we have gravitated toward, in which the wealthy obtain profits by manipulating the system.
Q) The problem of inequality is not so much a matter of technical economics. It's really a problem of practical politics. Inequality is not just about the top marginal tax rate but also about our children's access to food and the right to justice for all. If we spent more on education, health and infrastructure (基础设施), we would strengthen our economy, now and in the future.
Travel websites have been around since the l990s，when Expedia，Travelocity，and other holiday booking sites were launched，allowing travelers to compare flight and hotel prices with the click of a house．With information no longer (1) ______ by travel-agents or hidden in business networks，the travel industry was revolutionized，as greater transparency helped (2) ______ prices．
Today, the industry is going through a new revolution-this time transforming service quality．Online rating platforms-(3) ______ in hotels，restaurants，apartments，and taxis-allow travelers to exchange reviews and experiences for all to see Hospitality．"businesses are now ranked，analyzed，and compared not by industry (4) ______，but by the very people for whom the service is intended-the customer．This has (5) ______ a new relationship between buyer and seller. Customers have always voted with their feet; they can now explain their decision to anyone who is interested. As a result, businesses are much more (6) ______, often in very specific ways, which creates powerful (7) ______ to improve service.
Although some readers might not care for gossipy reports of unfriendly bellboys (行李员) in Berlin or malfunctioning hotel hairdryers in Houston, the true power of online reviews lies not just in the individual stories, but in the websites' (8) ______ to aggregate a large volume of ratings.
The impact cannot be (9) ______ Businesses that attract top ratings can enjoy rapid growth, as new customers are attracted by good reviews and (10) ______ provide yet more positive feedback. So great is the influence of online ratings that many companies now hire digital reputation managers to ensure a favorable online identity.
| A) accountable B) capacity C) controlled D) entail E) forged F) incentives G) occasionally H) overstated I) persisting J) pessimistic K) professionals L) slash M) specializing N) spectators O) subsequently |
When Carly Fiorina became Hewlett-Packard’s first female chief executive officer, the existence of her househusband, Frank Fiorina, who had retired from AT&T to support her career, was a mini-sensation (小轰动); now this arrangement isn't (1) ______ at all. Seven of the 18 women who are (2) ______ CEO of Fortune 500 companies-including Xerox's Ursula Burns and PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi-have, or at some point have had, a stay-at-home husband. So do scores of (3) ______ CEOs of smaller companies and women in other senior executive jobs.
This role change is (4) ______ more and more as women edge past men at work. Women now (5) ______ a majority of jobs in the U.S., including 51.4 percent of managerial and professional (6) ______, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Some 23 percent of wives now earn more than their husbands. And this earnings trend is more dramatic among younger people. Women 30 and under make more money, on (7) ______, than their male counterparts(年龄相当的人) in many large cities in the U.S.
During the recent (8) ______, three men lost their jobs for every woman. Many unemployed fathers have ended up caring for their children full-time while their wives are the (9) ______ wage earners. The number of men in the U.S. who (10) ______ care for children under age five increased to 32 percent in 2010 from 19 percent in 1988, according to Census figures.
| A) appealing B) average C) conflict D) currently E) elementary F) ensure G) female H) fill I) occupations J)occurring K) positions L) primary M) recession N) regularly O) unusual |
Suffering in Silence
Despite a law designed to protect them, many people with disabling conditions are unaware of their rights. Carole Concha-Bell tells of her experience.
A) Being diagnosed with a disabling condition is always a shock. Learning to live without the guarantee of health is like having to unlearn a previous life. The implications for your working life may seem intimidating. There is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), of course. But does it really provide the protection in the workplace that parliament intended? Are employers merely paying lip service to the DDA? Or are they even aware of an employer's legal duties and responsibilities? In my experience, it is the latter. I have received little support from employers to whom I have revealed my condition. This has often left me feeling at a disadvantage and wondering why I bothered doing so in the first place.
B) I had been struggling with illness long before I was diagnosed. In practical terms the diagnosis did little to aid me. Of course, it enabled me to understand my body, my limitations and set me on a course to stabilise my symptoms. But it brought a new dilemma. Where I had previously struggled to work while ill, ignorant of why my body was misbehaving, I now had a name for my daily struggle: Lupus (狼疮)．This is a chronic(慢性的) auto-immune disorder that can affect virtually any system in the body. It also leaves a huge, dark question hanging over my head when seeking employment: should I tell my employers I have a condition? It is a dilemma that continues to be a root cause of anxiety both for myself and for thousands of other UK employees.
C) The rocky road to my unfortunate enlightenment about work and disability began just after graduation when I'd set my sights on a career in communications and landed my dream job with a respected public relations consultancy (咨询公司) in Bristol. But while I was learning the art of media relations, my body wasn't quite making it in health terms. I often went to work with swollen limbs and fevers. At my first and last performance review, my boss was amazed that, despite my many capabilities, I hadn't quite taken control of my responsibilities. A few months later, my contract wasn't renewed and I plunged further into new depths of ill health.
D) However, I was determined not to be beaten and returned to the interview trail. My next job was in publishing. But despite a shining performance at the interview, I felt like a fraud. How long would it be before I sank into ill health and depression again? The job was to end with a monumental bang when I became so poorly I could no longer function. A few feverish weeks in bed ended in specialist appointment, where I was diagnosed with Lupus and rushed into hospital for fear that it may have attacked my internal organs. The next 12 months were filled with confusion. I had no idea about benefits, felt alienated (被视为另类) by the medical establishment and lived off my savings until I was broke. I realised I needed help from my family and moved to London.
E) As soon as I felt better, I marched into a marketing recruitment consultancy and, within 10 minutes, I had impressed the interviewer enough to be offered a job with the agency. We agreed on a decent salary and I told him I had arthritis (关节炎) and would need to work a four-day week. Things went well at the start but soon the client meetings began to fall on my day off, and I rarely left the office on time. I began to slip both in health and professional terms. The l0-hour days crashed around my head; no amount of make-up could disguise my ill health as I battled against the odds to prove to myself that I could still make it in the business world. I often cried on the bus from work.
F) Not long before my contract was due to be made permanent, I was called to the boss's office and given the "talk" about how my performance was slipping, how awful I looked. I felt too weak to fight back and agreed to leave. No attempts to offer adjustments to my job, such as being able to work from home, were ever made. I had a case for unfair dismissal under the DDA, but was ignorant of this at the time. An estimated 10 million people in the UK, or 17% of the population, qualify for disability status under the DDA. I have encountered a number of them: the liver-diseased boss; the co-worker with a heart condition; my asthmatic (哮喘的) trainee-teacher friend. None had disclosed (透露) their conditions to employers, and all were feeling the strain of not doing so.
G) To access your rights under the DDA and to request "reasonable adjustments" to your working conditions or your workplace requires disclosure. I had warned my former employer about my condition but it served little purpose. They were ignorant about their obligations to their disabled staff. However, there are plenty of forward-thinking organisations that have inclusive recruitment policies; are more likely to employ a worker with a disability; and are more aware of their legal duties. The public sector out-performs the private, but not always the voluntary, according to studies for the Disabilities Rights Commission.
H) I decided to give the voluntary sector a go and was surprised to be offered flexible working conditions and other solutions to meet my needs as an employee. But given the choice, I would still prefer a career in the private sector, which for me is more dynamic, has more attractive salaries and offers better prospects than the voluntary or public sectors.
I) Despite the advances of the DDA, there will always be an army of workers who will soldier on, maybe aware of their rights but choosing to remain silent for personal reasons. It is important, though, to recognise the significance of the act, the protection it affords and the obligations that employers have to us as employees and as human beings.