Part I Writing (30 minutes)

　　Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a Composition entitled The Prevalence of Western Holidays. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:

　　1．我国某些传统节日受到冷遇，而西方节日却日益升温；
　　2．形成这种现象的原因；
　　3．你对这种现象的看法。
　　The Prevalence of Western Holidays
 

　　Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)

　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. For questions
　　8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

　　Does contagious yawning mean you're nice?
　　You're in a conversation with another person and he casually yawns. As you wonder whether he's bored with the discussion, you find that you're yawning, too. A man walking by, sees you yawn, and pretty soon he yawns. It's carried on and on, passing from one person to another in a domino effect. Science is still investigating exactly what makes us yawn, but it's a well-known and little-studied fact: Yawning is contagious.
　　We know that much of yawning is due to suggestibility－it's infectious. You don't need to actually see a person yawn to involuntarily yawn yourself; hearing someone yawn or even reading about yawning can cause the same reaction. Chances are you'll yawn at least once while reading this article.
　　But contagious yawning goes beyond mere suggestibility. Recent studies show that the phenomenon is also related to our predisposition toward empathy--the ability to understand and connect with others' emotional states. It sounds strange, but whether or not you're susceptible to contagious yawning may actually be related to how much empathy you feel for others.
　　Empathy is an important part of cognitive development. We learn from an early age to value ourselves based on the amount and type of empathy our parents display, and developmental psychologists have furred that people who weren't shown empathy by their parents struggle later on in life. A lack of early empathy has been shown to lead to the development of sociopathic behavior in adults.
　　So empathy is important, sure, but how could it possibly be related to contagious yawning? Leave it up to psychologists at Leeds University in England to answer that. In their study, researchers selected 40 psychology students and 40 engineering students. Each student was made to wait individually in a waiting room, along with an undercover assistant who yawned 10 times in as many minutes. The students were then administered an emotional quotient test: Students were shown 40 images of eyes and asked what emotion each one displayed.
　　The results of the test support the idea that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. The psychology students－whose future profession requires them to focus on others－yawned contagiously an average of 5.5 times in the waiting room and scored 28 out of 40 on the emotional test. The engineering students--who tend to focus on things like numbers and systems－yawned an average of 1.5 times and scored 25.5 out of 40 on the following test. The difference doesn't sound like much, but researchers consider it significant. Strangely, women, who are generally considered more emotionally attuned, didn't score any higher than men.
　　These findings support what neurologists found through brain imaging: Contagious yawning is associated with the same parts of the brain that deal with empathy. These regions, the precuneus and posterior temporal gyrus, are located in the back of the brain. And although the link between contagious yawning and empathy has been established, explanations for the link are still being investigated.
　　Researchers are looking into the world of development disorders and at higher.primates for answers to this riddle.
　　Primate Yawing, Autism and Contagious Yawning Yawning may serve a number of functions, and these functions might be different for different animals. Humans aren't the only animals that yawn--even fish do. But only humans and chimpanzees, our closest relative in the animal kingdom, have shown definite contagious yawning.
　　One study, conducted in Kyoto, Japan, observed six chimps in captivity. Chimps were shown videos of other chimps yawning, along with chimps that opened their mouths but did not yawn. Of the six, two chimps yawned contagiously a number of times. Even more interesting, like their human counterparts under age 5, the three chimp infants showed no susceptibility to contagious yawning.
　　This may be related to the fact that empathy is taught and learned. If contagious yawning is the result of empathy, then contagious yawning wouldn't exist until the ability to empathize was learned. But what if empathy is never developed?
　　Another study, led by cognitive researcher Atsushi Senju, sought to answer that question.
　　People with autism spectrum disorder are considered to be developmentally impaired emotionally. Autistics have trouble connecting with others and find it difficult to feel empathy. Since autistics have difficulty feeling empathy, then they shouldn't be susceptible to contagious yawning.
　　TO find out, Senju and his colleagues placed 48 kids aged 7 to 15 in a room with a television. Twenty-four of the test subjects had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the other half were non-autistic kids. Like the Kyoto chimp study, the test subjects were shown short clips of people yawning as well as clips of people opening their mouths but not yawning.
　　While the kids with autism had the same lack of reaction to both kinds of clips, the non-autistic kids yawned more after the clips of people yawning.
　　But there could be another interpretation to Senju's findings. Autistics tend to focus on the mouths of people with whom they interact. But contagious yawning is thought to be cued---not by movements in the mouth area--but by changes to the area around the yawning person's eyes. This could explain why autistics are less susceptible to contagious yawning -perhaps they're just missing the cues.
　　However, that notion is undermined by another study. Conducted by researchers at Yale University, this study examined the reactions of autistic adults while they watched emotionally charged scenes from the movie, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Researchers found that those autistics who watched the eyes of the characters didn't register any more emotional reaction than those who focused on the mouth. This indicates that contagious yawning amounts to more than just cues; the autistics who watched the eyes received little information from the cues they found there.
　　It's become pretty clear that contagious yawning is linked to empathy. But why?Perhaps the best explanation for why we yawn, as well as why yawning is contagious, can be found around the watering hole on the savannah tens of thousands of years ago.
　　Some scientists believe that yawning is an involuntary response to a stressful situation: When we yawn, we increase the blood flow to the brain, thus making us more alert. Contagious yawning may be a method of quiet communication by which our ancestors spread the word that a hungry lion was nearby. Fear is an emotion with which we can empathize, and yawning may serve as a cue by which we spread that fear.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答；8-10题在答题卡1上。
　　1. Whether or not you're easily influenced by contagious yawning may be linked to __
 

　　2. Early empathy is important for us in that __
 

　　3. The results of the Leeds University's test show that __
 

　　4. Contagious yawning wouldn't exist unless __
 

　　5. Why autistics are less susceptible to contagious yawning?

　　6. Another interpretation to Senju's findings is that contagious yawning is thought to be cued by ___

　　7. According to the Yale University's study, why autistics aren't susceptible to contagious yawning?
 

　　8. The reason why contagious yawning is linked to empathy was_____________
 

　　9. Some scientists believe that yawning is just to make us_____________
 

　　10. Yawning may be considered as a cue by which people spread an emotion, and with the emotion_____________
 

　　Part III Listening Comprehension (35 minutes)

　　Section A
　　Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked [ A ], [ B ], [ C ] and [ D ], and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　11.
 

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　　Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
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　　Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have jnst heard.
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　　Section B
　　Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. A t the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center
　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　Passage One
　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　26.

　　27.

　　28.

　　Passage Two
　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　29.
 

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　　Passage Three
　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
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　　Section C
　　Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
　　注意：此部分试题在答题卡2上；请在答题卡2上作答。

　　Surging growth in international travel is driving revenue increases at the foreign units of U.S. online travel agencies and has spurred heated (36) ________________________for a bigger slice of the lucrative and (37) ________________________ market.
　　Companies like Orbitz Worldwide Inc. and Priceline.com Inc. have ramped up efforts to attract customers to their sites( 38 ) ________________________, and at least one U.S. travel site, Vayama, has ( 39 ) ________________________itself entirely to international bookings for travel to and from the United States.
　　Growth in bookings made outside the United States far outpaces the growth in U.S. (40) ________________________bookings.
　　That is partly because more people are traveling and partly because travelers are increasingly comfortable trusting their(41) ________________________to websites, said Orbitz Chief Executive Steve Barnhart.
　　"It's a competitive market place in the United states, and it's going to be a very competitive marketplace (42) ________________________,
　　" Barnhart said in an interview on Monday.
　　Earlier this week Orbitz said it has relaunched ebookers, its online travel company in Europe, with more ( 43 ) ________________________and user reviews with the goal of attracting more European bookings.
　　(44) ________________________up from $24.5 billion in 2004, according to travel research company PhoCusWright.
　　(45) ________________________The number of international passengers on U.S. airlines rose 3.8% in the first five months of 2007 from the comparable period a year earlier.
　　Vayama CEO Andre Hesselink said (46)________________________
 

　　Part IV Reading Comprehension ( Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

　　Section B
　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked [A], [ B], [C] and [D]. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
　　Passage One
　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
　　From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face the bleak prospect of losing ~heir jobs as a global recession starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.
　　Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian firms try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will stem unemployment and may help kcep Asian economies afloat at a time of slowing exports. The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for firm s to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, leaving some experts predicting a Western shift to Eastern flexibility.
　　"In the Confucian mindset, the right thing to do is to share the burden. There's that sense of collective responsibility whereas in the West, it's more about individual survival," said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University (SMU). Steven Pang, Asia regional director for Aquent, a headhunting firm, said in many East Asian companies there was an obligation "to take care of members of the family and go through the pain together"
　　even if that meant incurring losses.
　　In contrast, Westem counterparts often felt compelled to make dramatic statements to show investors they were serious about cost-cutting, Pang said. US firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals, job cuts will probably be less severe. Japan's jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong's was fiat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.
　　Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals from abroad.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　57. What does the author mean by saying "For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut"?
 

　　58. When facing the global recession, the Western and the Eastern workers experience differently because of_______

　　59. According to the third paragraph, we can know that_______
 

　　60. The differences in labor between the East and the West will die away gradually because of_______

　　61. What is the author's purpose in writing this article?

　　Passage Two
　　Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
　　Researchers have created a "beauty machine" they say can turn a woman's photo into the likeness of a cover model with the push of a button. The goal is not just to toy with pictures. Sure, the new computer software could help editors distort
　　magazine cover photos even more than they already do. But it could also guide plastic surgeons ( 整形医师) in efforts to achieve some perceived level of perfection in a patient. Or the software might even be incorporated into future digital cameras to make us all appear gorgeous, the researchers suggest.
　　Attractiveness--for men or women--can be objectified by a computer and boiled down to a function of mathematical distances or ratios, Cohen-Or said, admitting that the work is likely to be controversial. "Beauty can be quantified by mathematical measurements and ratios. It can be definedas average distances between features, which a majority of people agree are the most beautiful," he said. "I don't claim to know much about beauty. For us, every picture in this research project is just a collection of numbers."
　　Cohen-Or and colleagues asked 68 Israeli and German men and women, aged 25 to 40, to rank the beauty of 93 different men's and women's faces on a scale of 1 to 7. The scores were entered into a database and correlated to 250 different measurements and facial features, such as ratios of the nose, chin and distance from ears to eyes. From this, they created an algorithm of "desirable elements of attractiveness" that then spits out the new you.
　　The beauty machine is more subtle than a typical Photoshop makeover. The machine does not seem to work so well on celebrities, however. "We've run the faces of people like Brigitte Bardot and Woody Allen through the machine and most people are very Unhappy with the results," Cohen-Or said. "But in unfamiliar faces, most would agree the output is better."

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　62. What is said about the "beauty machine" in the first paragraph?
 

　　63. According to Cohen-Or, ________

　　64. What's the purpose of Cohen-Or's research project?

　　65. According to the last paragraph, we can know that________

　　66. The passage mainly talks about ________

　　Part V Cloze (15 minutes )

　　Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked [A], [B], [C]and[D] on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE that best fits into the passage. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　 Google already has a window into our souls through our Intemet searches and it now has insight into our ailing bodies too. The lnternet giant is using its vast database of individual search terms to 67 the emergence of flu up to two weeks 68 government epidemiologists. Google Flu Trends uses the 69_ of people to seek online help for their health problems. By tracking 70 for terms such as "cough", "fever" and "aches and pains", it claims to be able to 71 estimate where fluis 72.
　　Google tested the idea in nine regions of the US and found I could accurately predict flu 73 between 7 and 14 days earlier thin the federal centres for disease control and prevention. Google hopes the idea could also be used to help 74 other diseases. Flu Trends is limited 75 the US. Jeremy Ginsberg and Matt Mohebb.
　　two software engineers 76 in the project, said that 77 in Google search queries can be very 78 . In a blogpost on the project they wrote: "It turns 79 that traditional flu surveillance systems take 1 to 2 weeks to collect and 80 surveillance data but
　　Google search queries can be 81 counted very quickly. By making our estimates 82 each day, Flu Trends may provide an early-warning system for outbreaks of influenza." They explained that 83 information health would be kept 84 . "Flu Trends can never be used to identify individual users 85 we rely on anonymised, aggregated counts of how of ten certain search queries 86 each week."

　　67.
 

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　　Part VI Translation(5 minutes)

　　Directions: Complete the sentences on Answer Sheet 2 by translating into English the Chinese given in brackets.

　　注意：此部分试题在答题卡2上；请在答题卡2上作答。
　　Part VI Translation (5 minutes)
　　87．During the last night，hardly____________________ (他一开始睡觉)when the telephone ring awakened him． 

　　88．The film was so boring that____________________ (观众忍不住离开了剧场)．

　　89．She shut the window lest____________________ (外面的噪声会打扰她儿子睡觉)．

　　90．He made such a contribution to the town that____________________ (以他的名字为其中一条路命名)．

　　91．It was imperative that____________________(秘书在十二点之前把这封电报发到美国)．