Passage two

The need for a satisfactory education is more important than ever before. Nowadays, without

a qualification from a reputable school or university, the odds of landing that plum job advertised

in the paper are considerably shortened. Moreover, one’s present level of education could fall well

short of future career requirements.　　

　  It is no secret that competition is the driving force behind the need to obtain increasingly

higher qualifications. In the majority of cases, the urge to upgrade is no longer the result of an

insatiable thirst for knowledge. The pressure is coming from within the workplace to compete with

ever more qualified job applicants, and in many occupations one must now battle with colleagues

in the reshuffle for the position one already holds.　　

　 Striving to become better educated is hardly a new concept. Wealthy parents have always

been willing to spend the vast amounts of extra money necessary to send their children to schools

with a perceived educational edge. Working adults have long attended night schools and refresher

courses. Competition for employment has been around since the curse of working for a living

began. Is the present situation so very different to that of the past?

　 The difference now is that the push is universal and from without as well as within. A student

at secondary school receiving low grades is no longer as easily accepted by his or her peers as was

once the case. Similarly, in the workplace, unless employees are engaged in part-time study, they

may be frowned upon by their employers and peers and have difficulty even standing still. In fact,

in these cases, the expectation is for careers to go backwards and earning capacity to take an

appreciable nosedive.　　

　 At first glance, the situation would seem to be laudable; a positive response to the exhortation

by a former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, for Australia to become the clever country. Yet there are

serious ramifications according to at least one educational psychologist. Dr Brendan Gatsby has

caused some controversy in academic circles by suggesting that a bias towards what he terms

paper’ excellence might cause more problems than it is supposed to solve. Gatsby raises a number

of issues that affect the individual as well as society in general.　　

　 Firstly, he believes the extra workload involved is resulting in abnormally high stress levels

in both students at secondary school and adults studying after working hours. Secondly, skills

which might be more relevant to the undertaking of a sought after job are being overlooked by

employers interviewing candidates without qualifications on paper. These two areas of concern for

the individual are causing physical and emotional stress respectively.

　 Gatsby also argues that there are attitudinal changes within society to the exalted role

education now plays in determining how the spoils of working life are distributed. Individuals of

all ages are being driven by social pressures to achieve academic success solely for monetary

considerations instead of for the joy of enlightenment. There is the danger that some universities

are becoming degree factories with an attendant drop in standards. Furthermore, our education

system may be rewarding doggedness above creativity; the very thing Australians have been

encouraged to avoid. But the most undesirable effect of this academic paper chase, Gatsby says, is

the disadvantage that “user pays” higher education confers on the poor, who invariably lose out to

the more financially favoured.　　

　 Naturally, although there is agreement that learning can cause stress, Gatsby’s comments

regarding university standards have been roundly criticised as alarmist by most educationists who

point out that, by any standard of measurement, Australia’s education system overall, at both

secondary and tertiary levels, is equal to that of any in the world.

Do the following statements reflecting the views of the writer in the reading passage.

TRUE if the statement reflects the views of the writer

FALSE if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage

46. Most people who upgrade their qualifications do so for the joy of learning.

47. In some jobs, the position you hold must be reapplied for.

48. According to the text, students who performed bally at school used to be accepted by their

classmates.

49. Employees who do not undertake extra study may find their salary decreased by employers.

50. Australians appear to have responded to the call by a former Prime Minister to become better

qualified.

Section B

Directions: Read the following passage carefully and then give your answear to the question.

Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (3×5=15 points)

Passage three

In the past we have celebrated trees in poetry and song, myth and legend, and even

worshipped them. Our ancestors lived in the forest and our attachment to trees has deep

psychological roots, traces of which remain in popular superstitions like the saying, “touch wood”.

Richard St Barbe Baker, the man who helped to save the Californian redwoods, and who has

spent most of his long life planting trees around the world，has written: “Man and trees, water and

trees, man and water are inseparable”.

To put it plainly, trees are vital for our continued survival. They provide us with oxygen and

absorb carbon dioxide. They trap soil and moisture, thus preventing the soil being washed away by

erosion. In large parts of the world they provide the only source of fuel. Their fruits, nuts and oils

are a vital part of our human diet. We have built our houses, our transport, our tools, even our

musical instruments from them. They supply medicines, fibers, dyes, rubber and thousands of

other essential products. They provide shelter for millions of life forms. They shade us and inspire

us.

Yet in our modem world trees have become victims of the chainsaw and the earth-mover. We

have forgotten their value. Having exhausted our own forests, we are now destroying the forests of

the southern hemisphere. An area the size of a football field is being cut down or burned every

second. Every year fifteen million hectares are removed, equivalent to an area the size of England

and Wales combined. At present cutting rates, the world’s tropical forests will be completely gone

within twenty years.

Only one thing can halt this rapidly deteriorating situation—planting trees. The World Bank

estimates that about twenty million hectares of forest must be planted in the next twenty years if

the demand for fuel is to be met. At present it looks as if world efforts will only reach one-tenth of

that. In the south, the pressure of population and inappropriate agricultural systems are doing the

damage. Countries are often forced to sacrifice their forests because of their desperate need for

foreign exchange.

In his book The World Needs Its Forests, American ecologist Eric Eckholm links the two

ideas of deforestation and development. He writes this: “Uncontrolled deforestation is usually a

symptom of a society’s inability to get a grip on other fundamental problems, such as

unemployment, rapid population growth and the incapacity to regulate private enterprise to protect

the public interest.”

51. In your own words explain the philosophy of Richard St Barbe Baker.

52. In what way do trees prevent soil erosion?

53. If we carry on destroying forests in the southern hemisphere at the present rate, what will

eventually happen?

54. What can we do to prevent the present situation deteriorating still further?

55. How many reasons for uncontrolled deforestation does ecologist Eric Eekholm mention in his

book The World Needs Its Forests? P1ease state the reasons.

Ⅳ. Translation: (45 points)

A. Translate the following passages into Chinese. (30 points)

The world economy has managed, with some indigestion, to swallow the rise of oil prices

past $80 a barrel. How well could it survive $100 a barrel?

The answer is quite well -- so long as several conditions still hold true. The price rise would

probably have to be gradual. Inflation couldn’t get so bad as to force big interest-rate hikes.

Oil-rich nations would need to pump their profits back into U.S. and European economies.

All of this has happened so far. The happy confluence may continue, though fears remain

strong that high energy prices will tip the U.S. into recession.

A host of factors, including tight oil supplies and a weak U.S. dollar, suggest that oil prices

have further to rise. Some analysts continue to believe that oil is destined to reach an all-time high,

as measured in today’s dollars, of more than $101 a barrel. The record was set in 1980. On Friday

in New York, the benchmark crude-oil futures price closed down $1.22, or 1.5%, to finish at

$81.66, a little more than $2 off the all-time high, not adjusting for inflation.

High oil prices could lead to ugly consequences if they hit consumers’ pocketbooks --

especially in the U.S., where the housing slump is already hurting the economy. Consumer

spending has been the primary engine of growth in the U.S. in recent years.

Target Corp. was among the major retailers in the last week cutting sales forecasts. Target

expects September sales at stores open at least a year to rise just 1.5% to 2.5%, down from an

earlier expectation of 4% to 6% growth. The main reason has to do with what some call the

Wal-Mart effect. For every extra dollar taken from drivers’ pockets at the pump in the form of

higher prices in recent years, low-cost exporters from China and elsewhere have put roughly $1.50

back in the form of cheaper retail goods. Even at today’s near-record prices, U.S. households

today spend less than 4% of their disposable income at the pump, vs. over 6% in 1980.

B. Translate the following passage into English. (15 points)

一项研究结果表明，当夫妻双方劳燕分飞时，和男性相比，女性往往想要占有更多的共

同财产。

在一份包括房子、照片和宠物等 24 类物品的清单中，接受调查的男性普遍希望把其中

的19 样留给前妻，而女性只愿意他们的前夫拿走其中的8 样东西。

尽管女性并不是特别想要诸如电视机、CD、DVD 碟片和烤面包机等，但他们仍然希望

前夫也不要带走这些东西。

Part Ⅴ Writing (30points)

Some people hold the view that a student’s success in university study follows the same

pattern as that of farming, which is characterized by the sowing the seeds, nurturing growth and

harvesting the rewards’ process. Write an essay of about 300 words on the topic given below to

support this view with your own experience as a university student.　

SOWING THE SEEDS,NURTURING GROWTH AND HARVESTING THE REWARDS　

In the first part of your writing you should present your thesis statement, and in the second

part you should support the thesis statement with appropriate details. In the last part you should

bring what you have written to a natural conclusion with a summary.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriacy. Failure to follow

the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.