四级模拟题 3 试题

for more people with lifestyles that can't easily accommodate a regular working pattern Shaking up the workplace does not just help individuals. Wingham Rowan, founder of Slivers-of-Time, a social enterprise that has devised a system allowing people to sell their available working time through an online marketplace, believes extremely flexible working could hold the key to a brighter future for employment in the UK. “We have to start thinking in terms of work, not jobs,” says Rowan.

C) Slivers-of-Time developed a web-based system to allow people to sell their time online to employers in tiny blocks of two hours or more, on days that suit them. More geared up home workers, Slivers workers post their CV and their availability for in-house staff than and employers can book them to cover busy periods or do a temporary piece of to use a few spare hours to earn employer because of personal worklessness.

work. Ideal for carers, parents and anyone who wanted money but found it difficult to hold down a regular job with one commitments, it was awarded government funding as a means to tackle firms enjoy D) “The system has been particularly embraced by smaller companies,” says Rowan. Smaller the opportunity to take on workers to cover small bits of time, minimising costs and enabling them to cover busy periods. “There is an office supplies company that knows the best time to call potential buyers is between certain times on a Tuesday and Then there's a T-shirt printing the City of London Wednesday, so it books staff to cover those times. company that books extra staff if they have a big order to fulfill. And cover those periods.”

has found that library inquiries are busier during the school holidays, so it takes on staff to C) The model works well for small companies, but Slivers now has a number of large household names using its system. Helen Turner, recruitment and development manager for John Lewis in Cambridge, used Slivers-of-Time to cover the extremely busy Christmas period. “Slivers-of-Time meant we could cover gaps as small as two hours,” Turner says. “Once they were hired they worked various hours across the week, depending on their circumstances. We were able to call on extra resources quickly and they supported our partners.” She says many of the staff were students, while some were carers, and the flexible model suited both the store and the staff well.

D) Flexible hiring also works well for another household name, Adobe, which uses PR Network’s

associated to support its exist analyst relations team. Timothy Brook, senior manager of analyst relations at Adobe, says: “ We were looking for skilled, knowledgeable and motivated individuals who could work without the day-to-day management or direction often required by an agency model, and who could work directly with senior management within Adobe in the UK on a number of projects.” PR Network is in the enviable position of having grown during a recession, but although the downturn has pushed a higher number of people into self-employment, organisations involved in flexible working practices say it can’t take all the credit.

E) Xenios Thrasyvoulou, founder of PeoplePerHour (PPH), an online service that allows freelance workers

to bid for contracts offered by businesses, says the movement towards extremely flexible working for all skill levels was already under . way when the recession took hold PPH was launched in 2007, and now has ?fi,000 freelancers registered on its boo1?s, and 43,000 businesses, mostly small. Thrasyvoulou says the changes in working practice are “not just a recessionary e8ect”. “What is happening is a longer—term trend which has been accelerated by the recession, and one that is led by small businesses which are always more creative.”

F) Both the public sector and small businesses in the private sector are moving towards flexible styles of working, according to Andy? Lake, editor of the online journal flexibility.co.uk. “In the public sector, more and more contractors are being taken on,” Lake says. “There's evidence that things are working in different way. In the private sector, the biggest growth area is small businesses, which are keen to grow turnover but not personnel.” Even larger firms echo this opinion As Adobe's Brook says: “Due to the uncertain economy, we wanted the ability to ‘ dial up and dial down’ our commitment based on available budgets and levels of work.” This “0exing up and down” of the workforce may be key to the future of industry, opening doors for more people to pursue extremely flexible styles of working.

G) According to the Confederation of British Business’s Shape of Business report, published last November, organisations will increasingly “move to a new employment model where the core of permanent staff is smaller and a greater number of freelancers, consultants and temporary workers are used”. Alt in all, it's good news for people hoping for greater control of their work-life balance. “More organisations

have adopted flexible working practices as a way of saving jobs during the recession,” says Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk. “We hope this will not just be a stop-gap measure to save money but will bring lasting changes to the UK’s working culture, making it easier for women and men to balance work and family life and giving employers the diverse and committed workforce they need to thrive.

46. Shaking up the workplace not only helps individuals but is the key to a brighter future for employment in the UK. PR Network may be envied because it has grown even in economic downturn. The benefit of hiring temporary workers for small companies is to cover the busiest ’time with minimum cost.

49.

The key to the future of industry may lie in “flexing up and down” of the workforce. 50.

Working mothers would consider jobs in public relations not suitable for them because that kind of job often involves long working hours.

It is hoped that the flexible working practice would bring diverse and committed staff to employers. The UK government offered financial assistance to Slivers-of-Time so as to decrease the unemployment rate.

Organisations will move to a new employment . model in which tire number of temporary workers will increase while the number of permanent staff will fall down.

Both the public sector and small businesses in the private sectors are increasingly willing to adopt flexible working style.

The movement towards extremely flexible working, accelerated by the recession, is a long-term trend.

unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A) , B), C) and D). You should decide or the. best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

Eating a Mediterranean-style diet—packed with fruits, vegetables, legumes(

olive oil and

fish—is good for your heart, many studies have found. Now scientists are suggesting the diet may be good for your mental health, too.

A study of over 10,000 Spaniards followed for almost four and half years on average found that those who reported eating a healthy Mediterranean diet at the beginning of the study were about half as likely to develop depression than those who said they did not stick to the diet.

All of the participants were free of depression when they were recruited to the study, and each filled

out a 136-item food frequency questionnaire when they joined. Based on their self-reported dietary habits, they were assigned a score between 0 and 9, with. the highest score reflecting the closest sticking to a Mediterranean diet.

Over time, those who had scored between 5 and 9 on the Mediterranean diet were 42 percent to 51

percent less likely to develop depression, the study found, than those who scored between 0 and 2.

The study does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between the Mediterranean diet and a lower risk for depression, only an association between the two. Still, many scientists are convinced that some damaging processes involved in cardiovascular (心脏血管的) disease may also play a role in mental health.

“Both cardiovascular disease and depression share common mechanisms,” said Dr. Miguel Angel

Martinez-Gonzalez, professor of preventive medicine at University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, and senior author of the paper, published in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

“The membranes (细胞膜) of our nerve cell are composed of fat, so the quality of fat that you are eating definitely has ari influence on the quality of the neuron membranes, and the body’s combination of neurotransmitters is dependent on the vitamins you’re eating,” Dr. Martinez-Gonzalez added. “We think those least sticking to the Mediterranean dietary plan have a deficiency of essential nutrients.”

The elements of the diet most closely linked to a lower risk of depression were fruits, nuts and legumes, the study found.

Scientists have proven that a Mediterranean-style diet___________

A) helps develop a healthy heart B) results in a healthy mind C) is popular among Spaniards D)contains little fat

The study recruited Spaniards who___________

A) didn’t know about the Mediterranean diet B) didn't show any symptoms of depression

C) were likely to develop depression

D) were eager to be mentally healthy

What did the participants do during the process of the study?

A) They monitored their own health by scoring. B) They stuck to a Mediterranean diet. C) They kept their own dietary habits. D) They filled out the questionnaire regularly.

What does Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez think of depression?

A)It produces the same damage to the body as cardiovascular disease does. B)It involves the same forming process as cardiovascular ease.

6C)It is one of the symptoms of cardiovascular disease. 0. D)It is a damaging process in cardiovascular disease.

According to Dr. Martinez-Gonzalez, why are those who do not stick to Mediterranean diet more likely to get depression?

A) Their diets are not nutritious enough. B) Their diets don’t contain enough fat.

D) Their diets are composed of too C) Their diets lack certain important nutrients. much fat.

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage. Soon after starting his job as supervisor the Memphis Tenn., public schools, Kriner Cash ordered an assessment of lits new district's 104,000 students. What most concerned him was that the number of students considered “highly mobile,” meaning they had moved at least once during the school year, had ballooned to 34,000. At least 1,600 students were homeless—probably more. It led him to think over an unusual suggestion: What if the best way to help kids in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods is to get them out? Cash is now calling for Memphis to create a residential school for 300 to 400 kids whose parents are in financial distress. His proposal is at be forefront (最前线) of a broader national trend. Public boarding schools are hardly a new concept. But publicly financing boarding schools for inner-city kids is a very different suggestion. If Cash’s dream becomes a reality, it will probably look a lot like SEED (Schools for Educational Evolution and Development), whose 320 students live on campus five days a week. Perhaps the most provocative (引起争论的 ) aspect of Cash's proposal is to focus on students in grades 3 through 5. Homelessness is growing sharply among kids at that critical age, when much of their educational foundation is set, Cash says. His aim to prevent illiteracy and clear other learning roadblocks early, so the problem “won't migrate into middle and high school.” Students will remain on campus year- round “It sounds very exciting, but the devil is in the details,” says Ellen Bassuk', president of the National Center on Family Homelessness in Newton, Mass. “What's it like to separate a third- or fifth-grader from their parents?” It may help to consider the experience of SEED student Mansur Muhammad, 17. When he arrived

seven years ago, the first few weeks were tough. But Muhammad hasn't looked back. He maintains a 3.2 GPA and reshelves books in the school's library for $160 every couple of days, when he's not in his room listening to rap or classical music and writing poetry. Inspired by a teacher, Muhammad is working on a book. “It was a long road for me to get here,” he says, “and I have a long way to go.”

61. What did Cash intend to do with the kids in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods to “get them out”?

A) Help them get better-off. B) Drive them out of school. D) Put them into a special boarding C) Help them be academically outstanding. school. A) come from poor families

“Inner-city kids” are most probably children who

families

63. According to Cash, Grade 3 through 5 C) were born in rich B) study in private schools

A) is controversial among educators C) is the best time to solve homelessness that Gash’s idea is 65. A) defective A) Consult references.

D) were “highly mobile”

B) is a decisive period for students D) is the greatest roadblock in

education By mentioning the experience of Mansur Muhammad, the author tends to agree B) innovative . C) practicable that does Mansur Muhammad do in the library? .

B) Do a part-time job. D) Use the multimedia.

D) disputable

C) Write his new book.

Part IV Translation (30 minutes)

Direction : For the port, you are allowed TO minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English.

You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

中国戏曲是中国戏剧和音乐剧的结合。其起源可追溯到3世纪。中国戏曲有很多地方剧分支，

京剧是其中最有名的一个。京剧出现于18世纪末，并于19世纪中期得到充分发展和认可。京剧在 清朝宫廷（the Qing Dynasty court）特别受欢迎，并已被视为中国的文化珍品之一。中国戏曲会用 到面具。面具的每种颜色代表不同的含义，用来表现人物角色，说明他们的情感状态和大致性格。