Passage 1
At some 2300 miles in length, the Mississippi is the longest river in the United States. At some 1000 miles, the Mackenzie is the longest river in Canada. But these waterways seem minute in comparison to the world’s 2 lengthiest rivers: the Nile and the Amazon.
The Nile which begins in central Africa and flows over 4100 miles north into the Mediterranean hosted one of the world’s great ancient civilizations along its shores. Calm and peaceful for most of the year, the Nile used to flood annually, thereby creating, irrigating and carrying new topsoil to the nearby farmland on which ancient Egypt depended for livelihood. As a means of transportation, the river carried various vessels up and down its length.
A journey through the unobstructed part of this waterway today would pass by the splendid valley of the Kings, where the tombs of many of these ancient monarchs have stood for over 3000 years. Great civilizations and intensive settlement are hardly associated with the Amazon, yet this 4000 mile-long south American river carries about 20% of the world’s fresh water more than the Mississippi, Nile and Yangtze combined. Other statistics are equally astonishing. The Amazon is so wide at some points that from its center neither shore can be seen. Each second, the Amazon pours some 55 million gallons of water into the Atlantic. There, at its mouth stands one island larger than Switzerland. Most important of all, the Amazon irrigates the largest tropical rain forest on earth.
Passage 1
9. What can be found in the valley of the Kings?
10. In what way is the Amazon different from other big rivers?
11. What does the speaker say about the Amazon?
Recording 2
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the third in our cities of business seminars in the program “Doing Business Abroad”. (Q19) Today, we are going to look at the intercultural awareness, that is the fact that not everyone is British, not everyone speaks English and not everyone does business in a British way. And, why should they? (Q19) If overseas business people are selling to us, then they will make every effort to speak English and to respect our traditions and methods. It is only polite for us to do the same when we visit them. It is not only polite, it is a central, if we want to sell British products overseas. First, a short quiz. Let’s see how interculturally-aware you are. Question 1: where must you not drink alcohol on the first and seventh of every month. Question 2: where should you never admire your host’s possessions. Question 3: how should you attract the waiter during a business lunch in Bangkok. Question 4: where should you try to make all your appointments either before 2 or after 5:30 pm. OK, everyone had a chance to make some notes. Right! Here are the answers. Although I am sure that the information could equally well apply to countries other than those I have chosen. No.1: (Q20) you must not drink alcohol on the first and seventh of the month in India. In international hotels, you may find it served, but if you are having a meal with an India colleague, remember to avoid asking for a beer. If you are an arrival, coincide with one of those tips. No.2: in Arab countries, the politeness and generosity of the people is without parallel. If you admire your colleague’s beautiful belt and bowls, you may well find yourself being presented with them as a present. This is not a cheap way to do your shopping, however, as your host will quite correctly expect you to respond by presenting him with a gift of equal worth and beauty. In Thailand, clicking the fingers, clapping your hands or just shouting “Waiter” will embarrass your hosts, fellow diners, the waiter himself and, most of all, you. Place your palm downward and make an inconspicuous waving gesture, which will produce instant and satisfying results. And finally, (Q21) in Spain, some businesses maintain the pattern of working until about 2 o’clock and then returning to the office from 5:30 to 8, 9 or 10 in the evening.
Q19: What should you do when doing business with foreigners?
Q20: What must you avoid doing with your Indian colleague?
Q21: What do we learn about some Spanish people?
選詞填空
兒歌
Did Sarah Josepha Hale write “Mary’s Little Lamb,” the eternal nursery rhyme（兒歌）about girl named Mary with a stubborn lamb? This is still disputed, but it’s clear that the woman 26 reputed for writing it was one of America’s most fascinating 27 characters. In honor of the poem publication on May 24,1830, here’s more about the 28 supposed author’s life.
Hale wasn’t just a writer, she was also a 29 fierce social advocate, and she was particularly 30 obsessed with an ideal New England, which she associated with abundant Thanksgivinx xg meals that she claimed had “a deep moral influence,” she began a nationwide 31 campaign to have a national holiday declared that would bring families together while celebrating the 32 traditional festivals. In 1863, after 17 years of advocacy including letters to five presidents, Hale got it. President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, issued a 33 proclamation setting aside the last Thursday in November for the holiday.
The true authorship of “Mary’s Little Lamb” is disputed. According to New England Historical Society, Hale wrote only one part of the poem, but claimed authorship. Regardless of the author, it seems that the poem was 34 inspired by a real event. When young Mary Sawyer was followed to school by a lamb in 1816, it caused some problems. A bystander named John Roulstone wrote a poem about the event, then, at some point, Hale herself seems to have helped write it. However, if a 1916 piece by her great-niece is to be trusted, Hale claimed for the 35 rest of her life that “Some other people pretended that someone else wrote the poem”.
A）campaign
B）career
C）characters
D）features
E）fierce
F）inspired
G）latter
H）obsessed
I）proclamation
J）rectified
K）reputed
L）rest
M）supposed
N）traditional
O）versatile
金字塔
Scientists scanning and mapping the Giza pyramids say they've discovered that the Great Pyramid of Giza is not exactly even. But really not by much. This pyramid is the oldest of the world’s Seven Wonders. The pyramid’s exact size has 26 puzzled experts for centuries, as the 'more than 21 acres of hard, white casing stones' that originally covered it were 27 removed long ago.
Reporting in the most recent issue of the newsletter 'AERAGRAM,' which 28 chronicles the work of the Ancient Egypt Research Associates, engineer Glen Dash says that by using a new measuring approach that involved finding any surviving 29 remnants of the casing in order to determine where the original edge was. They found the east side of the pyramid to be a 30 maximum of 5.55 inches shorter than the west side.
The question that most 31 fascinates him, however, isn't how the Egyptians who designed and built the pyramid got it wrong 4,500 years ago, but how they got it so close to 32 perfect. 'We can only speculate as to how the Egyptians could have laid out these lines with such 33 precision using only the tools they had,' Dash writes. He says his 34 hypothesis is that the Egyptians laid out their design on a grid, noting that the great pyramid is oriented only 35 slightly away from the cardinal directions (its north-south axis runs 3 minutes 54 seconds west of due north, while its east-west axis runs 3 minutes 51 seconds north of due east)—an amount that's 'tiny, but similar,' Atlas Obscura points out.
chronicles
complete
established
fascinates
hypothesis
maximum
momentum
mysteriously
perfect
precision
puzzled
remnants
removed
revelations
slightly
家用機(jī)器人
When Elon Musk says, as he did this week, that his new priority is using artificial intelligence to build domestic robots, we should not only take note, but look forward to the day we can put our legs up in admiration.
Mr. Musk is a guy who gets things done. The founder of two “moonshot” tech companies, Tesla Motors and SpaceX, is bringing electric vehicles to mass market and 26 humans to live on other planets. Lest this strike the amateur techie—not that readers of The Independent would ever count among them—as so much hot air, you can be reassured that the near $13bn (￡8.8bn) fortune this entrepreneur has 27 comes from practical achievements rather than hypothetical ones.
A lot of clever people are 28 about artificial intelligence, fearing that robots will one day become so 29 they’ll murder all of us. These fears are mostly 30 : as with hysteria about genetic modification, we humans are generally wise enough to manage these problems with alacrity and care.
And just think of how wonderful it would be if you had a live-in robot. It could — 31 — be like having a babysitter and masseuse rolled into one — or, if that required 32 intelligence beyond the ken of Mr. Musk’s imagined machine, at least some one to chop the carrots, wash the car and mow the lawn. Once purchased and trained, this would allow the 33 user to save money and time, freeing up 34 space in our busy lives to, for instance, read The Independent.
That is why we welcome Mr. Musk’s latest 35 , and wish him well. As long as robots add to the sum of human happiness, reduce suffering or cumbersome activity, and create time to read world-class journalism, The Independent will be their fans. Especially since journalism is one job robots will never do.
A) amassed B) casual C) emotional D) enabling E) eventually F) exaggerated G) extravagant H) generously | I) misleading J) precious K) reward L) smart M) sphere N) terrified O) venture |
答案：
26. D enabling
27. A amassed
28. N terrified
29. L smart
30. F exaggerated
31. E eventually
32. C emotional
33. B casual
34. J precious
35. O venture
翻譯
自行車
自行車曾經(jīng)是中國城鄉(xiāng)最主要的交通工具，中國一度被稱為“自行車王國”。如今，隨著城市交通擁堵和空氣污染日益嚴(yán)重，騎自行車又開始流行起來。近來，中國企業(yè)家將移動互聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)與傳統(tǒng)自行車結(jié)合在一起，發(fā)明了一種稱為共享單車的商業(yè)模式。共享單車的出現(xiàn)使騎車出行更加方便，人們僅需用一部手機(jī)就可以隨時使用共享單車。為了鼓勵人們騎車出行，很多城市修建了自行車道。現(xiàn)在，越來越多的中國人也喜歡通過騎車健身。
Bicycles used to be the most important means of transportation in China’s urban and rural areas. Consequently, China was once called “the Kingdom of Bicycles.” Nowadays, as urban traffic congestion and air pollution become more serious, cycling has come back into vogue. Recently, Chinese entrepreneurs, by incorporating mobile Internet technology with traditional bicycles, have invented a new business model known as shared bicycles. The advent of shared bicycles has rendered cycling increasingly convenient. People can use a shared bicycle at any time with just one mobile phone. In order to encourage people to cycle, many cities have built bicycle lanes. Now, an increasing number of Chinese people also like to exercise via cycling.
高鐵
中國目前擁有世界上最大最快的高速鐵路網(wǎng)。高鐵列車的運行速度還將繼續(xù)提升，更多的城市將修建高鐵站。高鐵大大縮短了人們的出行時間。相對飛機(jī)而言，高鐵列車的突出優(yōu)勢在于準(zhǔn)時，因為基本不受天氣或交通管制的影響。高鐵極大地改變了中國人的生活方式。如今，它已經(jīng)成了很多人商務(wù)旅行的首選交通工具。越來越多的人也在假日乘高鐵外出旅游。還有不少年輕人選擇在一個城市工作而在臨近城市居住，每天乘高鐵上下班。
Currently, China owns the world’s largest and fastest high-speed railway network. The speed of high-speed trains will continue to mount, and more cities will construct high-speed railway stations. High-speed railway has markedly shortened people’s travel time. Compared with aircraft, high-speed trains enjoy an outstanding advantage—punctuality, because they are generally not affected by weather or traffic control. High-speed railway has dramatically transformed the way of life of Chinese people. Nowadays, it has become the No. 1 means of transportation for many people going on a business trip. An increasing number of people also travel by high-speed trains during holidays. In addition, there are also a considerable number of young people who choose to work in one city but live in a neighboring city, and who commute to and from work by a high-speed train every day.
私家車
過去，擁有一輛私家車對大部分中國人而言是件奢侈的事。如今，私家車在中國隨處可見。汽車成了人們生活中不可或缺的一部分，他們不僅開車上下班，還經(jīng)常駕車出游。有些城市的汽車增長速度過快，以至于交通擁堵和停車位不足的問題日益嚴(yán)峻，這些城市的市政府不得不出臺新規(guī)，限制上路汽車的數(shù)量。由于空氣污染日益嚴(yán)重，現(xiàn)在越來越多的人選擇購買新能源汽車，中國政府也采取了一些措施，支持新能源汽車的發(fā)展。
In the past, having a private car was a luxury for the majority of Chinese people, while nowadays, private cars are everywhere in China. Cars have become an integral part of people’s lives: not only do people drive to and from work, but they also travel by car frequently. In some cities, the number of cars has been increasing so fast that the problems of traffic jams and lack of parking spaces are becoming ever more severe; the municipal governments of these cities have to introduce new rules to limit the number of cars to be allowed on the road. With air pollution becoming increasingly serious, a growing number of people are now choosing to purchase a new energy vehicle, and the Chinese government has also adopted some measures to encourage the development of new energy vehicles.
翻譯來自：宋利輝老師
作文
企業(yè)和客戶
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance of building trust between businesses and consumers. You can site examples to illustrate your view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Supposing that people intend to enjoy reliable and harmonious relationship between businesses and consumers, it is advisable for people to attach much importance to trust building between them.
In contemporary society, it is a widespread phenomenon that relationship between companies and customers is deteriorating due to the lack of mutual trust between the two sides. Several typical examples can be given: some companies use false advertisement to deceive consumers; other corporations sell fake and inferior products online to seek excessive profits. As a matter of fact, a growing number of people have come to realize the great significance of building trust between firms and clients. Without mutual trust between the two parties, it would be impossible to establish a healthy and safe business environment. Without mutual trust between the two sides, it would be impossible to protect consumer rights and interests.
I, as a consumer, firmly hold the view that both the companies and customers should make joint efforts to build trust. Only in this way can the two sides enjoy trustworthy, steady and sustainable relationship.
老師和學(xué)生
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance of building trust between teachers and students. You can site examples to illustrate your view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Supposing that we intend to establish reliable and harmonious relationship between teachers and students, it is advisable for us to attach much importance to trust building between the two sides.
On today’s campus, it is a widespread phenomenon that relationship between teachers and students is deteriorating due to the lack of mutual trust between the two parties. Several typical examples can be given: some teachers misunderstand their students and even criticize them just because of lack of mutual trust; some students regard their teachers as their enemies and even rebel against their teachers’ instructions. As a matter of fact, a growing number of people have come to realize the great significance of building trust between teachers and students. Without mutual trust between teachers and students, it would be impossible to establish a harmonious and interactive teaching and learning environment. Without mutual trust between the two parties, it would be impossible for teachers to make the students cooperate with them and participate in the classroom activities voluntarily; Without mutual trust between the two sides, it would be impossible to arouse students’ enthusiasm and interests of learning.
I, as a college student, am firmly convinced that both teachers and students should make joint efforts to build trust. Only in this way can the two sides enjoy trustworthy, friendly and harmonious relationship.
雇主和員工
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the importance of building trust between employers and employees. You can site examples to illustrate your view. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
Supposing that people intend to establish reliable and harmonious relationship between employers and employees, it is advisable for them to attach much importance to trust building between the two sides.
In contemporary society, it is a universal phenomenon that relationship between employers and employees is deteriorating due to the lack of mutual trust between the two parties. Several typical examples can be given: some employers do not trust their subordinates so that they do not offer development opportunity to them; some employees distrust their superiors so that they are unwilling to devote themselves to the development of their companies. In fact, an increasing number of people have come to realize the great significance of building trust between employers and employees. Without mutual trust between them, it would be impossible to establish an efficient and productive working atmosphere. Without mutual trust between them, it would be impossible for employers to arouse motivation and activity of the employees; Without mutual trust between the two sides, it would be impossible for employees to fully explore their potentials and make contributions to the future development of their companies.
I, as a youngster, am firmly convinced that both employers and employees should make joint efforts to establish a trustworthy relationship. Only in this way can the two sides work pleasantly, efficiently and productively.
聯(lián)系客服
