the market and 45 the popularity of international (that is, English-speaking) acts. In Asia, new songs are being written to accompany 46 for American movies. For example, in Hong Kong the movie Lethal Weapon 4 was promoted with a song by a local heavy metal band called “Beyond.” Shots from the movie were mixed with clips (视频片段) of band members, even though the band does not appear in the film and the song is not 47 on the soundtrack.
Marketing 48 have a major impact on our lives. They influence our personal and group 49 and are used to promote both social ideas and commercial products. Therefore, a great awareness of consumer behavior is important to our 50 of both social issues and the popular culture.
III. Reading Comprehension Section A
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
She wants to be a singer; you think she should go for a long-term career with job security and eventually retire with a good pension (退休金). But a new report suggests that in fact she’s the practical one. Why do parents make terrible careers 51 ? Today’s 14 and 15-year-olds are 52 . They look at their working future in a different way to their parents. A job for life is not in their vocabulary; neither is a dead-end but secure job that is 53 but pays the bills. In the past, this might have counted as 54 news. Certainly when I was 15, my guidance counselors (导师) 55 my plans to become a writer. I’m glad I didn’t change my plans to suit them. But the world has changed. The global economy is not 56 to yesterday’s diligent and dependable worker. The future belongs to quick-thinking people who are resourceful, ambitious and can take the 57 . This means that a 14-year-old who sees her working future as a kind of 58 , to be made up as she goes along is not necessarily being unrealistic. 59 , she has to have the training and guidance to help her develop the right skills for today’s market. Many young people 60 that redundancy (冗余), downsizing (裁员) and freelancing (自由职业) are all part of modern working life, but no one is telling them how they might be able to turn the new rules of the 61 game to their advantage. This is what they need to know if they are to make a life for themselves. So what is to be done? A good first step would be to 62 the way in which schools prepare young people for adult life. The education system is becoming less flexible and stick more to traditional skills at just the time that the job market is going in the 63 direction. What, then, can we as parents do to help them? The best thing is to 64 all the advice that your parents gave you, and step into your teenager’s shoes. Give them the courage to follow their dreams—however odd they might sound right now. In a world that offers economic security to almost no one, imagination is a terrible thing to 65 .
51. A. advisers B. pioneers C. reformers D. pursuers 52. A. curious B. realistic C. depressed D. ambitious 53. A. well-paid B. temporary C. boring D. rewarding 54. A. big B. bad C. exciting D. latest 55. A. were ignorant of B. were horrified at C. were amazed at D. were conscious of 56. A. common B. opposed C. kind D. committed 57. A. initiative B. responsibility C. advantage D. measures
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58. A. reality 59. A. Instead 60. A. object 61. A. competition 62. A. neglect 63. A. opposite 64. A. take 65. A. inherit
Section B
B. terminal B. However B. declare B. employment B. follow B. former B. forget B. keep
C. destiny C. Therefore C. conclude C. knowledge C. change C. regular C. recall C. simplify D. adventure D. Moreover D. understand D. modernization D. cancel D. inevitable D. spoil D. waste
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
(A)
To the cheering of taxi drivers and the honking of horns, the comedian and actor Eddie Izzard ran into London yesterday to complete his 43rd marathon in 52 days. In total he had covered 1,100 miles. His 43 marathons were in aid of the charity Sports Relief, which raises money for the poor all over the world. So far Izzard has raised more than ￡200,000.
Fighting blisters (水泡) that have caused the nails on his smaller toes to fall off, he ran up The Mall and into Trafalgar Square, where he had started 7.5 weeks ago. In finishing he proved what many thought was an impossible task: that a 47-year-old comedian with no sporting experience could do something a top athlete might find difficult.
After only six weeks’ training he started out on a journey that would take him to every corner of the British Isles. “The first three weeks were the hardest,” he said. The non-stop pressure on his body made him unable to sleep at night and he would wake exhausted with “blisters on top of blisters”.
But the people he met along the way cheered him up. “People stopped their cars and cheered. They gave me money and food.” More than 500,000 people “followed” the comedian, in a different sense, on Twitter. Running into London he looked lean and muscular. “Everyone says my legs look very good but I thought they looked quite good beforehand,” he said.
Simon Blease, 51, a sports doctor and mountain runner who has been following his progress, was waiting on Tower Bridge. “I didn’t think he could do it,” he said. “Like a lot of people I thought he would have a good try, but his body would break down. Someone with so little training, I find it extraordinary that he has done it.”
Asked what he had gained, Izzard said: “I know now I can do that. Sport is one of those words that stopped being part of my life when I was about 14. Sporting success was not something I ever associated myself with.” He now plans to continue jogging and hopes to inspire others into sport. 66. Which of the following statements is true about Eddie Izzard? A. He took part in 43 marathon competitions in 52 days. B. He was sponsored by Sports Relief in the running. C. He ran 1,100 miles for the purpose of helping the poor. D. He took the challenge to prove he could be a top athlete. 67. What difficulty did Eddie Izzard meet with during the running? A. Injury in his ankles. C. Pressure to win.
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B. Sleeplessness at night. D. Inadequate time.
68. Simon Blease implied that _____. A. he had thought Eddie would fail halfway
B. training may not be necessary for marathon runners C. Eddie was a good model for others to follow
D. it was because of his strong body that Eddie succeeded 69. Which of the following words may NOT describe Eddie Izzard? A. Humourous.
B. Persevering.
(B)
The following is an excerpt (片段) from a website column. Your life, your decisions This week’s problems 1 After leaving university, Linda got a well-paid job with a big city bank. She has now worked there for eight years and has been promoted twice. However, she isn’t really happy in her work. She hates having to commute (通勤) through the rush hour, doesn’t enjoy office politics or the stress and long hours. She has been considering quitting her job and going to work as a volunteer overseas. She would like to be doing a job where she is really making a difference to other people’s lives. But should she take the plunge? It depends on what other responsibilities she has. If she doesn’t have a family to support, then why not? You only live once. Jack, UK If they want to make the relationship work long distance, then it’s certainly possible. But maybe Tom secretly wants to put some distance between them. Is he ready for marriage? Beata, Poland If she is so unhappy then I think she has no real alternative. She should leave—if she doesn’t, she’ll regret it. Vikram, India I think she has a number of different options. She could, for example, ask for a year’s unpaid leave so that she could try out her new lifestyle and still come back to her job if it doesn’t work out. Chiara, Italy
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C. Loving. D. Creative.
2 Tom and his girlfriend Suzie have been together for six years. They were planning to get married and start a family in the near future, but Tom has just been offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity abroad. His employers want him to spend two years at the New York office. Suzie doesn’t want to follow him to New York as she has just landed her dream job in London. Can they realistically maintain a long distance relationship? What should Tom do for the best? I don’t think long distance relationships ever work. Maybe for a while at the beginning of a relationship, but not like this. If he wants to stay with Suzie, he shouldn’t go. Ana, Brazil. I don’t see the problem. They can talk to each other every day if they want to—it’s cheap enough now online. Flights aren’t that expensive either, and the salary will be good. Tom should go for it! Katie, Ireland 70. What is Linda’s problem?
A. She is unhappy with the present job.
B. She has quit her job but hasn’t found a new one. C. She isn’t satisfied with her salary.
D. She has a new boss who enjoys office politics.
71. _____ thinks Linda should follow her dream without hesitation. A. Jack
B. Vikram
C. Chiara
D. Ana
72. What is Tom and Suzie’s problem?
A. They are unable to get married because of their financial problems. B. Their long-distance relationship is on the edge of breaking up.
C. Suzie has found her dream job, which Tom doesn’t give enough support to. D. Tom has got a chance to work in New York, but Suzie prefers to stay in London. 73. Which of the following is true according to Beata?
A. It is Tom who may not want to marry Suzie. B. Long distance relationships seldom work. C. Tom and Suzie need more communication. D. Suzie had better give credit to Tom’s decision.
(C)
Bitcoin is a virtual currency. As such, bitcoins are not issued by a central authority but are nevertheless accepted as payment by individuals and more and more businesses. Instead of being minted (铸造), they are created by computers on the bitcoin network. About 3600 bitcoins are added each day.
The breakthrough idea behind bitcoin—first posted in 2008—is a way to have this without having a central authority. The potential of a currency that is independent from governments and banks soon caught the attention of libertarians around the world, and the early bitcoin community was born. Now it’s going mainstream.
Trust in bitcoin is built into its bookkeeping. Whenever a transaction (交易) takes place—Alice sending a bitcoin to Bob, say—this is recorded in what is essentially a large database shared across all of the computers on the bitcoin network. This public ledger (分类账目) lets anyone see what transactions have taken place at any given time, though users’ names remain unknown.
The trust comes from the method used to guarantee that everyone has the same, up-to-date version “Mining” means using a computer to collect the records of a set of bitcoin transactions into what of the database. And that’s where the miners come in.
is known as a block and adding it to the shared database, known as the block chain. But before the network accepts your block, your computer needs to solve a complex mathematical problem, partly based on the block’s contents. The first miner to solve the problem gets to add the block to the block chain—and gains 25 bitcoins as their reward, worth around $5,000 at the time of writing.
The problem has been designed to take around 10 minutes for computers on the bitcoin network to solve. This ensures there is roughly a 10-minute delay between block chain additions, giving the entire network time to update itself when a block is added.
Miners often buy or sell mining capability through sites like CEX.IO—a process known as “cloud mining”—or gang together in mining pools, which helps to ensure they get a stable portion of the bitcoins created each day. As more miners with ever faster computers join the network, the difficulty of the problem adjusts automatically to maintain the delay.
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