Section A
Direction: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 I with a single line through the centre.
Conversation 1
M: Have you decided what you wish to study?
W: Yes, professor. I wish to study architecture.
M: Ah, that’s a wonderful profession. Why did you choose it?
W: I gave a lot of thought to things you said during our last discussion, and I decided architecture made the most sense for me. In particular, I’m attracted to the marriage of design and engineering.
M: That’s great, but I seem to remember you were preoccupied with all the lofty mathematics. You no longer think this aspect will be too hard for you?
W: No. I was doing some online research and I think I should be able to manage. Math might be the toughest subject I encounter in the curriculum, but I’ll simply put in the work required. I’m certain the fruits of my labor will pay off.
M: I’m sure that’s true. Due to its material nature, architecture is one field where you will be able to clearly witness the contribution you make to a city. And the legacies you build will last much longer than any of us mortals.
W: Yeah, I guess that’s true too. So what subjects do you think I should start brushing up on in preparation? I have the whole summer.
M: These days, architecture is a very diverse and dynamic degree. Most universities will encourage you to learn different things from fields as wide-ranging as philosophy and economics. Nevertheless, I would suggest you start with computer science because there will be many intricate visuals you will have to produce as part of your projects.
W: Any software in particular you think I should start with?
M: Photoshop is a good place. If you aren’t yet, try to become as proficient as you can with it. And another thing that I would recommend you learn as much as you can is fine arts, in particular, the history of Western art.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 1: Why does the woman wish to study architecture?
Question 2: How does the woman say she will overcome the difficulty in learning mathematics?
Question 3: What does the man say about architects’ contribution to a city?
Question 4: What subject does the man suggest the woman start with?
1.
A) She is drawn to its integration of design and engineering.
B) She is influenced by her father who teaches architecture.
C) She is preoccupied with her dream to be an architect.
D) She is attracted to the beauty of modern buildings.
2.
A) By taking prerequisite courses.
B) By studying the subject online.
C) With the professor’s help.
D) Through hard work.
3.
A) It is immortal.
B) It is immaterial.
C) It is long-lasting.
D) It is groundbreaking.
4.
A) Computer science.
B) Philosophy.
C) Economics.
D) Western art.
Conversation 2
W: So as I mentioned over the phone, we are looking for someone who is very discreet. I can’t stress this enough.
M: I fully understand.
W: As we all know, being such a famous football player at Real Madrid, Mr. Sanchez has a very high public profile. This means he cannot leave the house without being recognized and harassed.
M: Yes, I completely understand how imperative it would be to respect Mr. Sanchez’s private life.
W: Good. As his personal assistant, you would be required to run common everyday chores for Mr. Sanchez, things he cannot do himself due to his fame, like going to the supermarket or post office. So, well, at first sight it may appear that working for a celebrity is very glamorous. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m telling you this so that you don’t get any false expectations of what the job has to offer you.
M: Thanks. I understand this too. This is my first job after graduating from university. So frankly, I don’t have much prior working experience. I am, however, very excited about the prospect of joining this company and very keen to start from the bottom in whatever capacity I may be of use.
W: That’s good to hear. You sound very energetic. Tell me why do you think you are well suited for this job?
M: Well, firstly, I love football. I’m a lifelong Real Madrid supporter and go to their games every weekend I can. I would simply love to have a job where I’m involved in some capacity with Real Madrid, regardless of the position and salary. And secondly, I think what this company does in sports consultancy is very cool. And I think my language skills could prove very uscful down the road.
W: Please tell me more about your language skills.
M: I am fully fluent in English and Spanish and have a working proficiency in French.
Questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
Question 5: What do we learn from the conversation about Mr. Sanchez?
Question 6: What will the man do if he gets the job?
Question 7: What does the man say about himself?
Question 8: Why does the man think he is a very competitive candidate?
5.
A) He is a famous football coach.
B) He is well known to the public.
C) He has been guarded by a discreet assistant.
D) He has occasionally been harassed by his fans.
6.
A) Help promote Mr. Sanchez’s public profile.
B) Run common daily chores for the woman.
C) Play a key role in Real Madrid.
D) Serve as a personal assistant.
7.
A) He once worked part-time in university.
B) He is honest and always tells the truth.
C) He cares little about his working hours.
D) He has little previous work experience.
8.
A) He has a natural capacity to cooperate with others.
B) He has a sound knowledge of sports consultancy.
C) He has a high proficiency in several languages.
D) He has a strong ability to connect with people.
Section B
Direction: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 1 with a single line through the centre.
Passage 1
Adventure sports are undeniably attractive to many energetic and thrill-seeking kids. Sports like rock climbing, surfing, skiing, and mountain biking, thus have lots of appeal. They don’t have many of the rules and pressures of traditional team sports, but they still have all the benefits of outdoor physical activity.
When properly supervised, extreme sports can be a part of a healthy, balanced life. Some adventure sports may be associated with higher risks of injury, so it’s important for kids to figure out when to take risks, and when not to. Risk-free activities deprive kids of the opportunity to test themselves and overcome their fears. But to some, these very risks are what makes these sports a bad choice. They say that extreme sports can often lead to devastating injuries, especially as young thrill-seekers may attempt feats that are too advanced for them.
But let’s be real. Most kids do all kinds of dangerous stuff whether you want them to or not. Adventure sports have many of the same risks and dangers, but they have an additional sense of adventure, courage and autonomy that is important to foster in young children. As always, it’s up to parents to decide what’s best for their kids. But if you do decide that adventure sports are a bit too much, do try to introduce other forms of outdoor adventures into their lives. Camping under the stars, fishing, stargazing or even just playing in the woods can help a lot in building the same sense of self-confidence and risk-taking as in adventure sports.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 9: Why do extreme sports appeal to many kids?
Question 10: What does the speaker say about risk-free activities?
Question 11: What should parents do if they decide adventure sports are a bit too much for their kids?
9.
A) They have fewer rules and pressures.
B) They require less supervision and training.
C) They are more suitable to young people.
D) They bring more benefits to young people.
10.
A) They prevent kids from enjoying adventure sports.
B) They rob kids of the chance to cultivate their courage.
C) They help kids guard against any possible injuries.
D) They deprive kids of the opportunity to develop team spirit.
11.
A) Introduce them to these sports step by step.
B) Ask them to try some forms of indoor sports.
C) Let them participate in some less risky outdoor activities.
D) Help them take up these sports when they are more mature.
Passage 2
The shiny gadgets of today will be waste tomorrow. Manufacturers don’t talk much about this when they announce the big new thing that will replace your mostly just as good old thing. In fact, technology firms often purposely design devices that will not last long and cannot be repaired so that consumers will have to spend their money on a new one.
This year, the French government began requiring tech manufacturers to list a repairability score. If a device can be repaired, then its life can be extended, saving consumers money and the planet the burden of so many trashed gadgets. Equipped with this knowledge, consumers can make better choices about which products to buy.
Some 59 million tons of old TVs, computers, screens, smartphones, washers and other electronics are discarded every year. This waste is dangerous. Batteries explode in recycling facilities. Toxic substances like mercury leak into soil and groundwater and disperse in the air. Manufacturing flat screens adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. We need tech companies to take the lead to solve this problem. If they won’t, governments must make them do so.
Although tech companies will often speak of environmental sustainability, many lobby against repair legislation, fearful it will eat into their profits. Sustainability matters, but marketable design appears to matter more to these companies. Consumers should support right-to-repair legislation. In this world, damage is a certainty. But we cannot leave things broken: A problem of our creation is a problem that can be fixed.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 12: Why did new products soon become waste?
Question 13: What did the French government require tech companies to do to help consumers make better choices?
Question 14: What should tech companies do to help ensure environmental sustainability?
Question 15: What does the speaker think of the problem of waste?
12.
A) Manufacturers use effective strategies to promote fancier products.
B) Tech firms intentionally design products to have short lifespans.
C) Such products tend to comprise parts that are irreplaceable.
D) Consumers often have a craving for the latest model.
13.
A) Detail the life cycle of their products.
B) Specify the major parts of their products.
C) List a repairability score of their products.
D) Indicate the competitiveness of their products.
14.
A) Take due caution in upgrading their products.
B) Substitute all toxic substances with non-toxic ones.
C) Invest in constructing more recycling facilities.
D) Take the initiative to reduce electronic waste.
15.
A) It can be solved.
B) It is certain to worsen.
C) It is unavoidable in the long run.
D) It will be fixed by tech companies.
Section C
Direction: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 1 with a single line through the centre.
Recording 1
On average, US workers spend about 10% of their workday surfing the internet, emailing friends or shopping online. This behavior, called cyberloafing, is believed to cost employers up to $85 billion a year in lost productivity.
The majority of cyberloafing research focuses on ways to prevent employees from engaging in this behavior through interventions such as internet monitoring and computer use policies. But it turns out, such behaviors may not be a sign that a worker is lazy or just wasting time. Social media use at work has been linked to higher levels of employee engagement and job satisfaction. New research suggests cyberloafing can help workers cope with an exceptionally stressful work environment.
But is cyberloafing actually effective at reducing employee stress levels? That’s the question my research team wanted to answer in our new study. Our hypothesis was that cyberloafing may serve as a mini-break, giving employees an opportunity to recover from stressful work situations. To test this, we asked workers to complete an online survey and rank how much time they spent cyberloafing, checking non-work emails and shopping. We also asked them to rank job satisfaction, their desire to quit, and how often they’ve experienced mistreatment at work, such as being bullied, threatened or yelled at. As you might expect, we found that overall, more mistreatment at work was correlated with lower levels of job satisfaction and a greater desire to quit. More interestingly, we found that cyberloafing effectively buffered this connection. That is, mistreated workers who spent more time surfing the web and checking emails reported higher job satisfaction and were less likely to want to quit than similar participants who didn’t cyberloaf as much. This suggests that cyberloafing acts as a sort of relief valve for workers, helping them recover from stressful experiences.
While we did not directly assess how cyberloafing affects worker performance, we believe by relieving stress it may not only reduce worker turnover, but also ultimately bolster productivity. This fits with other recent research that suggests taking short breaks is associated with higher levels of daily job performance. That isn’t to say cyberloafing is always good. Too much time spent on non-work activities likely causes performance to suffer. All in all, managers should be more lenient with employees. We believe a bit of online shopping or surfing the internet at work could make workers more productive in the long run.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 16: What does most cyberloafing research focus on?
Question 17: What was the hypothesis of the speaker’s research team?
Question 18: On what point do the results of the speaker’s study agree with other recent research?
16.
A) How internet monitoring can be implemented.
B) How to prevent employees from cyberloafing.
C) How cyberloafing affects overall productivity.
D) How to encourage productive internet surfing.
17.
A) Overuse of social media may lead to decline in productivity.
B) Employee engagement is closely related to job satisfaction.
C) Cyberloafing may relieve employees of stress.
D) Cyberloafing is a sign of workers’ laziness.
18.
A) Taking mini-breaks means better job performance.
B) Cyberloafing generally does more harm than good.
C) Employees who indulge in internet surfing are most likely to quit.
D) Worker turnover is linked to the time allowed for cyberloafing.
Recording 2
When Julius Morton moved to Nebraska City in 1854, he faced a problem shared by many settlers in the territory: It was a treeless plain. That meant no trees for building materials, or for fuel. But Morton was one of the world’s first conservationists, stating, “For prosperity, we ought to plant as many forests as we have exhausted and consumed”. So he started planting trees, beginning with his own land. By 1860 Morton possessed a forest of more than 300 trees. A few years later, he had more than 1,000.
As the forest grew, so did Morton’s influence in Nebraska. This was largely because Morton founded the Nebraska City News, the state’s first newspaper, in which he frequently wrote editorials about the practical and aesthetic benefits of tree planting. He also organized the Nebraska State Gardening Society and served on the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture.
While serving on the Board, Morton came up with an idea to spread his belief in tree planting statewide. On January 4, 1872, Morton drafted a resolution that April 10 be designated day for the planting of trees in the State of Nebraska and urged people to go out and plant trees themselves.
Morton called the special event Arbor Day as “arbor” is Latin for “tree”. The state government agreed. And on April 10, 1872, the first unofficial Arbor Day was celebrated throughout Nebraska. Prizes were awarded to counties, cities, and individuals who planted the largest number of trees. That day, an astounding one million trees were planted in Nebraska — an average of more than six for every man, woman and child in the state. Since 1885, Nebraska has planted more than 700,000 acres of trees, earning it the nickname “the Tree Planters State”.
Arbor Day became a legal, civic holiday in the state in 1885. It was held on April 22 — Julius Morton’s birthday. In addition to a parade in NebraskaCity, Morton introduced what has since become a long-standing Arbor Day tradition: Schoolchildren went outside and planted trees together.
In 1970, nearly a century after Arbor Day was first celebrated, President Richard Nixon declared the last Friday of every April to be observed as National Arbor Day. All 50 states recognize the April observance, although many hold an additional state Arbor Day in a month more suited to local tree planting.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 19: What does the speaker say about Nebraska City in 1854 when Julius Morton moved there?
Question 20: What did Julius Morton do that increased his influence in Nebraska City?
Question 21: What does the speaker say happened on April 10,1872?
19.
A) There were environmental problems.
B) There were no wooden buildings.
C) There were few settlers.
D) There were no trees.
20.
A) He urged the state to start the Nebraska State Gardening Society.
B) He founded a newspaper and used it to promote his ideas.
C) He engaged himself in a large number of aesthetic projects.
D) He served as chairman of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture.
21.
A) Nebraska earned the nickname “the Tree Planters State”.
B) The state government declared it the official Arbor Day.
C) One million trees were planted throughout Nebraska.
D) A special prize was awarded to Julius Morton.
Recording 3
Modern humans arose in Africa about 200,000 years ago. They then spread across Europe and Asia sometime after 60,000 years ago. This is the “Out of Africa” model, as it’s commonly known. In the 1990s, the hypothesis found widespread acceptance. But this popular idea is in need of revision, particularly given the number of important findings across Asia over the past few decades.
For instance, many new human fossils found, particularly in China, are now dated as older than 60,000 years. This calls into question the idea that modern humans migrated out of Africa only 60,000 years ago. Take the recent discovery of two modern human teeth found in the Luna cave in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. When my research team and I dated these teeth, we found they were more than 70,000 years olda situation clearly impossible if modern humans moved out of Africa only 60,000 years ago.
So with such findings, what happened exactly? Where does the most current data suggest we came from?
The first question we should ask is why did modern humans leave Africa to begin with? If a population is perfectly adapted to a particular environment and has access to an abundance of resources, then there really is no reason to move or change. For instance, some monkeys in Africa have a set of teeth that has hardly changed over the course of millions of years, indicating that they found a place that has worked for them.
So what happened with humans? Some researchers have suggested that population density increased to the point where smaller human groups were forced to explore new lands. Other researchers have suggested that due to major environmental events in East Africa, humans were prompted to find greener pastures. Yet another explanation could simply be that early modern human hunters were following the large animals that they relied on, and so they moved out of Africa without realizing that they were actually moving from one continent to another.
Humans need daily access to reliable fresh water, which appears to be absent from many coastal areas. This brings us to another question: by which route did modern humans move out of Africa? No clear routes across the Mediterranean from North Africa appear to be present, so the earlier dispersals out of Africa and into Europe and Asia might have been across the Arabian Peninsula.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
Question 22: What do we learn about modern humans according to the hypothesis commonly accepted in the 1990s?
Question 23: What has called into question the “Out of Africa” model?
Question 24: What does the speaker want to show with the example of some monkeys in Africa?
Question 25: What question does the speaker raise close to the end of the talk?
22.
A) They lived mostly in Africa for about 200,000 years.
B) They moved out of Africa about 60,000 years ago.
C) They preferred to live in Europe rather than in Asia.
D) They spread across Europe and Asia in a few decades.
23.
A) The Luna cave in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
B) The human fossils discovered most recently in Africa.
C) The traces of human migration out of Africa to Asia.
D) The discovery of two modern human teeth in China.
24.
A) There must have been some reason for human migration.
B) Humans had access to abundant food sources there.
C) Humans adapted themselves to the environment there.
D) There have been changes in animals’ living conditions.
25.
A) When modern humans started to disperse out of Africa.
B) How humans settled down on the Arabian Peninsula.
C) Why fresh water is so important for human survival.
D) What path modern humans took to migrate out of Africa.
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