作文真题

听力真题

　　Conversation 1

　　M： Tonight， we have a very special guest. Mrs. Anna Sanchez is a three-time Olympic champion and author of the new book To the Edge. Mrs. Sanchez， thank you for joining us.

　　W： Thank you for having me.

　　M： Let's start with your book. What does the title ”To the Edge” mean? What are you referring to?

　　W： The book is about how science and technology has helped push humans to the edge of their physical abilities. I argue that in the past 20 years， we have had the best athletes the world has ever seen.

　　M： But is this a fair comparison? How do you know how， say， a football player from 50 years ago would compare to one today?

　　W： Well. You are right. That comparison would be perhaps impossible to make. But the point is more about our knowledge today of human biochemistry， nutrition and mechanics. I believe that while our bodies have not changed in thousands of years， what has changed is the scientific knowledge. This has allowed athletes to push the limits of what was previously thought possible.

　　M： That's interesting. Please tell us more about these perceived limits.

　　W： The world is seeing sports records being broken that could only be broken with the aid of technology. Whether this be the speed of a tennis serve or the fastest time in a hundred-meter dash or a two-hundred-meter swimming race.

　　M： Is there any concern that technology is giving some athletes an unfair advantage over others?

　　W： That is an interesting question and one that has to be considered very carefully. Skis， for example， went from being made of wood to a metal alloy， which allows for better control and faster speed. There is no stopping technological progress but， as I said， each situation should be considered carefully on a case-by-case basis.

　　Questions 1-4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　Question 1： What do we learn about Anna Sanchez?

　　Question 2： What is the woman's book mainly about?

　　Question 3： What has changed in the past thousands ofyears?

　　Question 4： What is the man's concern about the use of technology in sports competitions?

　　Too many people view their jobs as a five-day prison from which they are paroled

　　6

　　every Friday ， ”says Joel Goodman ， founder of The Humor Project ， a humor-consulting group in Saratoga Springs， New York. Humor unlocks the office prison because it lets adults bring some of their childlike spirit to the job.

　　According to Howard Pallio， professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee，

　　Knoxville ， an office with humor breaks is an office with satisfied and productive

　　employees. Pollio conducted the study that proved humor can help workers excel at routine production tasks. Employees perform better when they have fun .

　　In large corporations with a hierarchy of power， there is often no outlet for stress， “Every company needs underground ways of poking fun at the organization， ”says Lynn N Mark ， the speaker on workplace humor for St . Mary's Health Center in

　　St. Louis . 7

　　Kodak's Rochester New York branch discovered a way for its 20 000 employees to uncork their bottled-up resentments . Their 1 000 square foot ”Humor Room”

　　features a “toy store”. ”Among the room's many stress-reducing gadgets， the main attraction is a boss doll with detachable arms and legs. Employees can take the doll apart， as long as they put its arms and legs back in place.

　　Sandy Cohen， owner of a graphic print-production business， created ”The Quote

　　Board” to document the bizarre phrases people say when under strict

　　deadlines. ”When you’re under stress， you say stupid things， ”says Cohen， “now we just look at each other and say that’s one for the Quote Board!”

　　9. What does the passage say about humor in the workplace?

　　10. What does the study by Howard Pollio show?

　　11. What can Kodak's employees do in the Humor Room?

　　Passage 2

　　Public interest was aroused by the latest discovery of the changed gene in obese life. The news was made by Rockefeller University geneticist Jeffery Friedman. The researchers believe this gene influences development of a hormone that tells the organism how fat or full it is. Those was the changed gene may not sense when they have eaten enough or if they have sufficient fatty tissue. And thus， you can't tell when to stop eating.

　　The researchers also reported finding a gene nearly identical to the mouse obesity gene in humans. The operation of this gene in humans has not yet been demonstrated. however. Still， professionals like University of Vermont psychologist Esther Rothblum， reacted enthusiastically： ”This research indicate that people really are born with the tendency to have a certain weight just as they are to have a particular skin color or height”.

　　Actually， behavioral geneticists believe that less than half of total weight variation is programmed in the genes， while height is almost entirely genetic determined. Whatever role genes play， Americans are getting fatter. A survey by the Center for Disease Control found obesity has increased greatly over the last ten years. Such rapid change underlines the role of environmental factors like the abundance of rich foods in Americans' overeating. The Center for Disease Control has also found that teens are far less physically active than they were even a decade ago. Accepting that weight is predetermined can relieve guilt for overweight people. But people’s belief that they cannot control their weight can itself contribute to obesity.

　　Q12： What does the speaker say has aroused public interest?

　　Q13： What do we learn about the changed gene?

　　Q14： What does the University of Vermont psychologist Esther Rothblum say? Q15： What accounts for Americans' obesity according to a survey by the Center of Disease Control?

　　Recording 1

　　Qualities of a relationship such as openness， compassion and mental stimulation are of concern to most of us regardless of sex， but - judging from the questionnaire response， they are more important to women than to men. Asked to consider the ingredients of close friendship， women rated these qualities above all others. Men assigned a lower priority to them in favor of similarity in interests， selected by seventy-seven percent of men， and responsiveness in a crisis， chosen by sixty-one percent of male respondents. Mental stimulation， ranked third in popularity by men as well as women， was the only area of over-lap. Among men， only twenty-eight percent named openness as an important quality; caring was picked by just twenty -three percent.

　　It is evident by their selections that when women speak of close friendships， they are referring to emotional factors， while men emphasize the pleasure they find in a friend's company. That is， when a man speaks of 'a friend'， he is likely to be taking about someone he does things with - a teammate， a fellow hobbyist， a drinking buddy. These activities are the fabric of the friendship; it is a 'doing' relationship in which similarity in interests is the key bond. This factor was a consideration of less than eleven percent of women. Women opt for a warm， emotional atmosphere where communication flows freely; activity is mere background.

　　Lastly， men， as we have seen， have serious questions about each other's loyalty. Perhaps this is why they placed such strong emphasis on responsiveness in a crisis - 'someone I can call on for help.' Women， as their testimonies indicate， are generally more secure with each other and consequently are more likely to treat this issue lightly. In follow-up interviews this was confirmed numerous times as woman after woman indicated that 'being there when needed was taken for granted.'

　　As for the hazards of friendship， more than a few relationships have been shattered because of cutthroat competition and feelings of betrayal. This applies to both men and women， but unequally. In comparison， nearly twice as many men complained about these issues as women. Further， while competition and betrayal are the main thorns to female relationship， men are plagued in almost equal amounts by two additional issues： lack of friendship and a fear of appearing unmanly. Obviously， for a man， a good friend is hard to find.

　　Question 16： What quality do men value most concerning friendship according to a questionnaire response?

　　Question 17： What do women refer to when speaking of close friendships?

　　Question 18： What may threaten a friendship for both men and women?

　　恐龙遗址

　　The partial skeletons of more than 20 dinosaurs and scattered bones of about 300 more have been discovered in Utah and Colorado at what is now the dinosaur natural monument. Menu of the best specimens may be seen today at museums of natural history in the largest cities in the United States and Canada. This dinosaur pit is the largest and best-preserved deposit of dinosaurs known today. Many people get the idea from the massive bones in the pit wall that some disaster such as a volcanic explosion or a sudden flood killed a whole herd of dinosaurs in this area. This could have happened but it probably did not. The main reasons for thinking otherwise are the scattered bones and the thickness of the deposit. In other deposits where the animals were thought to have died together， the skeletons were usually complete and often all the bones were in the proper places， rounded pieces of fossil bone have been found here. These fragments got their smooth round shape by rolling along the stream bottom. In a mass killing， the bones would have been left on the stream or lake bottom together at the same level. But in this deposit， the bones occur throughout a zone of sand stone about 12 feet thick. The mixture of swamp dwellers and dryland types also seems to indicate that the deposit is a mixture from different places. The pit area is a large dinosaur graveyard， not a place where they died. Most of the remains probably floated down on eastward flowing river until they were left on a shallow sandbar. Some of them may have come from far away dryland areas to the west， perhaps they drowned trying to cross the small stream or were washed away during floods. Some of the swamp dwellers may have got stuck in the very sandbar that became their grave， others may have floated for miles before being stranded， even today similar events take place. When floods come in the spring， sheep， cattle and deer are often trapped by rising waters and often drown. Their dead bodies float down-stream until the flood recedes and leaves them stranded on the bar or shore where they lie， half buried in sand until they decay. Early travelers on the Missouri river reported that shores and bars often lined with the decaying bodies of buffalo that have died during spring floods /X

　　Question 19： Where can many of the best dinosaur s specimens be found in North America?

　　Question 20： What occurs to many people when they see the massive bones in the pit wall?

　　Question 21： What does the speaker suggest about the large number of dinosaur bones in the pit?

　　Recording 3

　　主题：家庭关系

　　I would like particularly to talk about the need to develop a new style of aging in our new society.

　　Young people in this country have been accused of not caring for their parents， the way they would have in the old country. And this is true， but it is also true that old people have been influenced by an American ideal of independence and autonomy. So， we live alone， perhaps on the verge of starvation， in time without friends， but we are independent. This standard American style has been forced on every ethnic group， although there are many groups for whom the ideal is not practical. It is a poor ideal and pursuing it does a great deal of harm.

　　This ideal of independence also contains a tremendous amount of unselfishness. In talking to today's young mothers， I have asked them what kind of grandmothers they think they are going to be. I hear devoted， loving mother say that when they are through raising their children， they have no intention of becoming grandmothers. They were astonished to hear that in most of the world throughout most of its history， families have been three- or four-generation families， living under the same roof. We have over-emphasized the small family unit - father， mother， small children. We think it is wonderful if Grandma and Grandpa， if they're still alive， can live alone.

　　We have reached the point where we think the only thing we can do for our children is to stay out of their way. And the only thing we can do for our daughter-in-law is to see as little of her as possible. Old people's nursing homes， even the best run， are filled with older people who believe the only thing they can do for their children is to look cheerful when they come to visit. So， in the end， older people have to devote all their energies to 'not being a burden.'

　　Were beginning to see what a tremendous price we've paid for our emphasis on independence and autonomy. We've isolated old people and we've cut off the children from their grandparents. One of the reasons we have as bad a generation gap today as we do is that grandparents have stepped out. Young people are being deprived of the thing they need most - perspective， to know why their parents behave so peculiarly and why their grandparents say the things they do.

　　Q22 What have young Americans been accused of?

　　Q23 What does the speaker say about old people in the United States?

　　Q24 What is astonishing to the young mothers interviewed by the speaker?

　　O25 What does the speaker say older people tried their best to do?

阅读

翻译

　　《三国演义》(The Romance of the Three Kingdoms)是中国一部著名的历史小说，写于十四世纪。这部文学作品以三国时期的历史为背景，描写了从公元二世纪下半叶到公元三世纪下半叶的魏、蜀、吴三国之间的战争。小说中刻画了近千个人物和无数的历史事件。这些人物和事件虽然大都基于真实的历史，但都不同程度地浪漫化和戏剧化了。《三国演义》是一部公认的文学杰作。自面世以来，这部小说不断吸引着一代又一代的读者，并且对中国文化产生着广泛而持久的影响。

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