单项选择题
1、Questions are based on the following passage．
Shoppers on Black Friday，the traditional start of the holiday shopping season in America, are notoriously（声名狼藉地）aggressive，Some even start queuing outside stores before dawn to be the first to lay their hands on heavily discounted goods．Last year destructively violent bargain-hunters in the suburbs of New York City trampled（踩踏）a Wal-Mart employee to death．Despite the madness at many stores，however,  the recession appears to have accelerated the pace at which shoppers are abandoning bricks and mortar（灰浆）in favour of online retailers--e-taters．
E-commerce holds particular appeal in poor times as it enables people to compare prices across retailers quickly and easily．Buyers can sometimes avoid local sales taxes online，and shipping is often free．No wonder，then，that online shopping continues to grow even as the offiine sort shrinks．
The shift in spending to the internet is good news for companies like P&G that lack retail outlets of their own．But it is a big concern for brick-and-mortar retailers，whose prices are often higher than those of e-tailers，since they must bear the extra expense of running stores．
The most obvious response to the growth of e-tailing is for conventional retailers to redouble their own efforts online．The online arms of big retailers are performing well，on the whole．
The concept of“multichannel”shopping，where people can buy the same items from the same retailer in several different ways，is gaining ground，and retailers are trying to encourage users of one channel to try another．
Retailers are also trying to make shopping seem fun and exciting to act against the recession．One common method is to set up“pop-up”stores，which appear for a short tilne before vamshing again，to develop a sense of novelty and urgency．
Stores are also trying to lure customers by offering services that are not available online．Best Buy，a consumer-electronics retailer，has started selling music lessons along  with its musical instruments．Lululemon athletica,which sells sports clothes，offers free yoga classes．The idea is to bring people back to its shops regularly．increasing the likelihood that they will develop the habit of shopping there．
Why does the author say the recession has accelerated the pace of online shopping?
A．Because shoppers are aggressive when shopping at brick-and-mortar stores．
B．Because online shopping allows people to look for cheaper goods more easily．
C．Because the sales of brick-and-mortar shops shrink during economic recession．
D．Because the same item is definitely cheaper when it is sold online．


2、听录音，回答题

A．She hasn’t finished reading the book．
B．She won't lend her book to the mall．
C．The man doesn't need the book．
D．The mall can use her book if he likes．


3、Questions  are based on the following passage．
Children are a delight．They are our future．But sadly, hiring someone to take care of them while you go to work is getting more expensive by the year．
Earlier this month, it was reported that the cost of enrolling an infant or small kid at a childcare center rose 3% in 2012, faster than the overall cost of living．There are now large strips of the country where daycare for an infant costs more than a tenth of the average married couple's income．
This is not necessarily a new trend, but it is a somewhat puzzling one．The price of professional childcare has been rising since the 1980s．Yet during that time, pay for professional childcare workers has stood still．Actually caregivers make less today, in real terms, than they did in 1990．Considering that labor costs are responsible for up to 80% of a daycare center's expenses, one would expect flat wages to have meant flat prices．
So who's to blame for higher childcare costs?
Childcare is a carefully regulated industry．States lay down rules about how many children each employee is allowed to watch over, the space care centers need per child, and other minute details．And the stricter the regulations, the higher the costs．If it has to hire a caregiver for every two children, it can't really achieve any economies of scale on labor to save money when other expenses go up．In Massachusetts, where childcare centers must hire one teacher for every three infants, the price of care averaged more than $16,000 per year．In Mississippi, where centers must hire oneteacher for every five infants, the price of care averaged less than $5,000．
Unfortunately, I don't have all the daycare-center regulations handy．But I wouldn't be surprised if as the rules have become more elaborate, prices have risen．The tradeoff (交换) might be worth it in some cases; after all, the health and safety of children should probably come before cheap service．But certainly, it doesn't seem to be an accident that some of the cheapest daycare available is in the least regulated South．
What problem do parents of small kids have to face?
A．The ever-rising childcare prices．
B．The budgeting of family expenses．
C．The balance between work and family．
D．The selection of a good daycare center．


4、根据以下资料，回答题：
Wbrld Must Adapt to Unknown Climate Future
A．There is still great uncertainty about the impacts of climate change，according to the latest report from the Intefgovernmental Panel on Climate Change，released today．So if we are to survive and prosper, rather than trying to fend off specific threats like cyclones，we must build flexible and resilient(有弹性的)societies．
B．Today’s report is the second of three instalments(分期连载)of the IPCC’s fifth assessment of climate change．The first instalment，released last year,covered the physical science of climate change．It stated with increased certainty that climate change is happenin9，and that it is the result of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions．The new report focuses on the impacts of climate change and how to adapt to them．The third instalment，on how to cut greenhouse gas emissions，comes out in April．
C．The latest report backs off from some of the predictions made in the previous IPCC report，in 2007．During the final editing process．the authors also retreated from many of the more confident projections from the final draft，leaked last year．The IPCC now says it often cannot predict which specific impacts of climate change—such as droughts，storms or floods——will hit particular places．
D．Instead，the IPCC focuses on how people call adapt in the face of uncertainty,arguing that we must become resilient against diverse changes in the climate．“The natural human tendency is to want things to be clear and simple．”says the report’s co-chair Chris Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford，Califomia．“And one of the messages that doesn’t just come from the IPCC，it comes from history,is that the future doesn’t ever turn out the way you think it will be．”That means，Field adds，that‘'being prepared for a wide range of possible futures is iust always smart”．
E.Here New Scientist breaks down what is new in the report，and what it means for humanity’s efforts to cope with a changing climate．A companion article，“How climate change will affect where you live”，highlights some of the key impacts that different regions are facing．What has changed in the new IPCC report?
F.In essence，the predictions are intentionally vaguer．Much of the firlner language from the 2007 report about exactly what kind of weather to expect，and how changes witl affect people，has been replaced with more cautious statements．The scale and timing of many regional impacts，and even the form of some，now appear uncertain．
G.For example，the 2007 report predicted that the intensity of cyclones over Asia would increase by 10to 20 per cent．The new report makes no such claim．Similarly,the last report estimated that climate change would force up to a quarter of a billion Africans into water shortage by the end of this decade．The new report avoids using such firm numbers．
H.The report has even watered down many of the more confident predictions that appeared in the lcaked drafts．References to“hundreds of millions”of people being affected by rising sea levels have been removed from the summary,as have statements about the impact of warmer temperatures on crops．“I think it's gone back a bit，”says Jean Palutikof of Griffith University in Brisbane，Queensland，Australia，who worked on the 2007 report．“That may be a good thing．In the fourth [climate assessment]we tried to do things that weren’t really possible and the fifth has sort of rebalanced the whole thing．”
So do we know less than we did before?
I.Not really,says Andy Pitman of the University of New South Wales in Sydney,Australia．It is just more rigorous language．“Pointing to the sign of the change，rather than the precise magnitude of the change，is scientifically more defensible，”he says．
J.We also know more about what we don’t know,says David Karoly at the University of Melbourne．“There is now a better understanding of uncertainties in regional climate proj ections at decadal timescales(时标)．”
Are we less confident about all the impacts of climate change?
K.Not quite．There are still plenty of confident predictions of impacts in the reponv—at least in the draft chapters that were lcaked last year,and which are expected to be roughly the same when they are released later this week．These include more rain in parts ofAfrica，more heatwaves in southem Europe，and more frequent droughts in Australia(see“How climate change will affect where you live”)．It also remains clear that the seas are rising．How do we prepare in cases in which there is low confidence about the effects of climate change?
L.That’s exactly what this report deals with．In many cases，the uncertainty is a matter of magnitude，so the choices are not hard．“It doesn’t really matter if the car hits the wall at 70 or 80 kilometres an hour,”says Karoly．“You should still wear your seat belt．”So when it comes to sea．1evel rise or heatwaves，the uncertainty does not change what we need to do：build sea walls，use efficient cooling and so forth．
M.But in some cases——such as African rainfall，which could go up or down——the models are not giving us great advice．so all we know is that things will change．“We are not certain about the precise nature of regional change，but we are absolutely certain there are going to be profound changes in many regions，”says Pitman．Even then，there are things we can do that will always help．A big one is getting people out of poverty．The report says poverty makes other impacts worse and many suggested adaptations are about alleviating it．The IPCC suggests giving disadvantaged groups more of a voice，helping them move when they need to and strengthening social safety nets．
N.What’s more，all countries should diversify their economies，rather than relying on a few main sources of income that could flood or blow ovel Countries should also find ways to become less vulnerable to the current climate variability．That means improving the way they govem resources like water,the report says．
O.In short，we must become more resilient．That would be wise even if the climate was stable．Our current infrastructure often cannot deal with the current climate，says Karoly,pointing to events like the recent UK floods．“We don’t have a resilient system now,even in extremely well developed countries．”
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

Focusing on the clue of climate change instead of the severity of climate effects is scientifically more reasonable．


5、听音频：
回答问题：

A．Have dinner with friends．
B．Go out with severA．friends．
C．Stay home watching football game．
D．Stay home and do some housework。


简答题
6、
"Dear Andy  How are you? Your mother and I are fine. We both miss you andhope you are doing well. We look forward to seeing you again the next time yourcomputer crashes and you come downstairs for something to eat. Love, Morn andDad "


7、
"Once I learn how to use Google, isn't that allthe education I really need?"


8、 旅游业是近二十年来在世界各地迅速发展的一个经济部门，现在正引起中国公众越来越多的关注。许多人给报社写信，就促进中国旅游业的发展提出了种种建议。人们的看法是，发展旅游业将有助于促进中国人民和其他国家人民之间的相互了解、增进友谊，并将有利于文化、科学、技术方面的交流，还会有助于为中国的伟大事业积累资金。


9、信息技术(Inforrmtion Technoiogy)m在飞速发展，中国公民也越来越重视信息技术，有些学校甚至将信息技术作为必修课程，对这一现象大家持不同观点。一部分人认为这是没有必要的，学生就应该学习传统的课程。另一部分人认为这是应该的，中国就应该与时俱进。不管怎样，信息技术引起广大人民的重视是一件好事。


10、在全球变暖的大背景下，低碳经济(| ow-carbon economy)受到越来越多国家的关注。低碳经济是以减少温室气体排放为目标，以低能耗、低污染为基础的经济发展方式。近些年来，科学界以及各国政府已基本达成一致，推行低碳经济是避免气候发生灾难性变化、保持人类可持续发展的有效方法之一。以公众的消费选择引导和鼓励企业开发低碳产品技术，向低碳生产模式转变，终达到减少全球温室气体的效果。