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Part 1
Read the text below and answer questions 28-40.
PTEROSAURS
The Pterosaur: a flying reptile that lived during the time of the dinosaur
Remains of the pterosaur, a cousin of the dinosaur, are found on every continent Richard Monastersky reports
A Pterosaurs stand out as one of nature's great success stories. They first appeared during the Triassic period, 215 million years ago, and thrived for 150 million years before becoming extinct at the end of the Cretacoous period. Uncontested in the air, pterosaurs colonised all continents and evolved into a vast array of shapes and sizes.
B Until recently, most scientists would not have put pterosaurs in the same class as birds in terms of flying ability. Because pterosaurs were reptiles, generations of researchers imagined that those creatures must have boon cold-blooded, like modern snakes and lizards. This would have made flying awkward, as they would have lacked the ondurance to power their muscles for long periods of time.
C In the past throe decades, however, a number of fossil discevorios have prompted researchers to re-examine their views. The new picture of pterosaurs reveals that they wore unlike any modern reptile. From a fossil discovered in Kazakhstan, scientists suspect that pterosaurs had a covering resembling fur. If so, this detail provides evidence of a warm-blooded body that could maintain tho kind of effort needed to stay in the air. Indeed, scientists now believe that many pterosaurs were gifted air¬borne predators, built to feed while in flight. And, in fact, such controversy has combining the Greek words for wing and finger. A fow decades later, the name pterosaur, or winged reptile, was adopted to describe the growing list of similar fossils. IC In 1873, a remarkable pterosaur specimen came to light that confirmed Cuvier's deduction. Unlike earlier fossils, this new find near the Bavarian town of Solnhofen contained delicate wing impressions, establishing definitely that the extinct reptile was capable of flight. Even though over a thousand pterosaur specimens are known today, such wing surrounded pterosaurs since the first discovery of one in the early 1700s.
D Cosimo Alessandro Collini, tho first natural historian to study the fossil and describe it, was unable to classify it. It was not until 1791 that the great French anatomist Georges Cuvier deduced that the animal was in fact a flying reptile, whose fourth finger supported a wing. Ho named the fossil Ptorodactylus, combining the Greek words for wing and finger. A fow decades later, the name pterosaur, or winged reptile, was adopted to describe the growing list of similar fossils.
E In 1873, a remarkable pterosaur specimen came to light that confirmed Cuvier's deduction. Unlike earlier fossils, this new find near the Bavarian town of Solnhofen contained delicate wing impressions, establishing definitely that the extinct reptile was capable of flight. Even though over a thousand pterosaur specimens are known today, such wing impressions remain rare. Normally only bones survive the fossilisation process.
F But how pterosaurs learnt to fly remains a matter for disagreement. Most researchers conclude that pterosaurs are descended from a small tree-dwelling roptilo that spont its life jumping botwoen branches. This creature would have spread its limbs, and used flaps of skin attached to its limbs and body to help it to land gently on the ground. Over many generations the fourth finger on each of its front 'arms` would have grown longer, making the skin surface larger and enabling the animal to glide farther. Meanwhile, the competing argument holds that pterosaurs developed from two-legged reptiles that ran along the ground, perhaps spreading their arms for balance. Through gradual growth, the front arms would then have evolved into wings. This difficult issue will only be resolved with the discovery of earlier forms of pterosaurs.
G It`s very difficult to say how pterosaurs changed over time because tho earliest fossils we have are of pterosaurs whose fourth finger has already transformed into a wing/ says Fabio dalla Vecchia, an Italian researcher. In fact, the earliest known pterosaurs came from the mountains of northern Italy, where he has spent years searching for flying reptiles. These species have shorter wings than later forms, but there is evidence that they wero skilful fliers, capable of catching fish over open wator. Proof of this has been found in the fossil of a Eudimorphodon, a 215-million-year- old pterosaur found near Bergamo, Italy. Under a microscope, several fish scales .can be seen in the abdomen of the specimen - the remains of the pterosaur`s last meal.
H A different but equally impressive sight is the life-size model of Quetzalcoatlus northropit which stares down at visitors in the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, California. It has a beak the size of a man and wings wider than those of many of the planes exhibited nearby. This pterosaur had wings over 11 metres wide, making it the largest flying animal ever known.
I Quetzalcoatlus represents the height of pterosaur evolution. Unlike smaller pterosaurs, it could use natural currents to stay in the air without having to move its wings continuously/ said Paul MacCroady, an aeronautical engineer. 'As pterosaurs got larger, they discovered the benefits of gliding on air currents, making use of a free energy source. With their hollow bones, these pterosaurs had a very light construction, ideal for such activity/
J As wo walked beneath the Quetzalcoatlus model in Santa Monica, MacCready pointed out its similarity to sailplanes, tho most efficient kind of aeroplanes. Both have long slender wings designed to fly with minimum power. During flight, sailplane pilots routinely search for places where heat rises from sun-baked earth, creating hot air currents called thermals. Undoubtedly, Quetzalcoatlus would have used thermals as well, lazily circling over tho river deltas that once covered parts of Texas.
K Tho triumphant reign of pterosaurs ended with this giant flier. At the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, a meteorite or comet slammed into the Earth. That calamity - and other events - wiped out roughly three quarters of all species, including all pterosaurs and dinosaurs. But before their disappearance, pterosaurs enjoyed unequalled success. They flew into sunny skies before any other vertebrate. For 150 million years they sailed the winds on the strength of a fragile finger. What a glorious ride they had.Questions 28-34
The text has eleven paragraphs, A-K.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-K
28.similarities between pterosaurs and mechanical flight[blank]28[/blank]
29lthe identification of the type of creature a pterosaur actually was[blank]29[/blank]
30.conflicting theories about how pterosaurs came to fly[blank]30[/blank]
31.the cause of widespread destruction of animal life on our planet[blank]31[/blank]
32.the fact that pterosaurs once existed all over the world[blank]32[/blank]
33.the first clear proof that pterosaurs could fly[blank]33[/blank]
34.concrete evidence that pterosaurs hunted their food from the air[blank]34[/blank]
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The text has eleven paragraphs, A-K.<br/><br/>Which paragraph contains the following information?<br/><br/>Write the correct letter, A-K<br/><br/>28.similarities between pterosaurs and mechanical flight[blank]28[/blank]<br/><br/>29lthe identification of the type of creature a pterosaur actually was[blank]29[/blank]<br/><br/>30.conflicting theories about how pterosaurs came to fly[blank]30[/blank]<br/><br/>31.the cause of widespread destruction of animal life on our planet[blank]31[/blank]<br/><br/>32.the fact that pterosaurs once existed all over the world[blank]32[/blank]<br/><br/>33.the first clear proof that pterosaurs could fly[blank]33[/blank]<br/><br/>34.concrete evidence that pterosaurs hunted their food from the air[blank]34[/blank]<br/><br/>
我的答案： 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.
正确答案： 28.J 29.D 30.F 31.K 32.A 33.E 34.G
Questions 35-38
Look at the following statements (Questions 35-38) and (he list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person, At B, C or D.-
A. Cosimo Alessandro Collini
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B. Georges Cuvier
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C. Fabio dalla Vccchia
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D. Paul MacCrcady
35 He refers to the difficulty of determining how pterosaurs evolved without further evidence.
36 He failed to interpret the evidence before him
37 He gave an appropriate name to the first pterosaur that was discovered.
38 He mentions the ability of pterosaurs to take advantage of their environment
我的答案： 35. 36. 37. 38.
正确答案： 35.C 36.A 37.B 38.D
Questions 39-40
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS ANDIOR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 39 and 40
39 So far, evidence of a total of[blank]ww39[/blank] pterosaurs has been discovered.
40 The wings of Quetzalcoatlus measured more than[blank]40[/blank]across.
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Complete the sentences below.<br/><br/> Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS ANDIOR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.<br/><br/> Write your answers in boxes 39 and 40 <br/><br/> 39 So far, evidence of a total of[blank]ww39[/blank] pterosaurs has been discovered.<br/><br/> 40 The wings of Quetzalcoatlus measured more than[blank]40[/blank]across. <br/><br/>
我的答案： 39. 40.
正确答案： 39.over a thousand 40.11 metres
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Part 2
Read the text below and answer questions 14-26.
The Intersection of Health Sciences and Geography
A While many diseases that affect humans have been eradicated due to improvements in vaccinations and the availability of healthcare, there are still areas around the world where certain health issues are more prevalent. In a world that is far more globalised than ever before, people come into contact with one another through travel and living closer and closer to each other. As a result, super-viruses and other infections resistant to antibiotics are becoming more and more common.
B Geography can often play a very large role in the health concerns of certain populations. For instance, depending on where you live, you will not have the same health concerns as someone who lives in a different geographical region. Perhaps one of the most obvious examples of this idea is malaria-prone areas, which are usually tropical regions that foster a warm and damp environment in which the mosquitos that can give people this disease can grow. Malaria is much less of a problem in high-altitude deserts, for instance.
C In some countries, geographical factors influence the health and well-being of the population in very obvious ways. In many large cities, the wind is not strong enough to clear the air of the massive amounts of smog and pollution that cause asthma, lung problems, eyesight issues and more in the people who live there. Part of the problem is, of course, the massive number of cars being driven, in addition to factories that run on coal power. The rapid industrialisation of some countries in recent years has also led to the cutting down of forests to allow for the expansion of big cities, which makes it even harder to fight the pollution with the fresh air that is Produced by plants.
D It is in situations like these that the field of health geography comes into its own. It is an increasingly important area of study in a world where diseases like polio are re-emerging, respiratory diseases continue to spread, and malaria-prone areas are still fighting to find a better cure. Health geography is the combination of, on the one hand, knowledge regarding geography and methods used to analyse and interpret geographical information, and on the other, the study of health, diseases and healthcare practices around the world. The aim of this hybrid science is to create solutions for common geography-based health problems. While people will always be prone to illness, the study of how geography affects our health could lead to the eradication of certain illnesses, and the prevention of others in the future. By understanding why and how we get sick, we can change the way we treat illness and disease specific to certain geographical locations.
E The geography of disease and ill health analyses the frequency with which certain diseases appear in different parts of the world, and overlays the data with the geography of the region, to see if there could be a correlation between the two. Health geographers also study factors that could make certain individuals or a population more likely to be taken ill with a specific health concern or disease, as compared with the population of another area. Health geographers in this field are usually trained as healthcare workers, and have an understanding of basic epidemiology as it relates to the spread of diseases among the population.
F Researchers study the interactions between humans and their environment that could lead to illness (such as asthma in places with high levels of pollution) and work to create a clear way of categorising illnesses, diseases and epidemics into local and global scales. Health geographers can map the spread of illnesses and attempt to identify the reasons behind an increase or decrease in illnesses, as they work to find a way to halt the further spread or re-emergence of diseases in vulnerable populations.
G The second subcategory of health geography is the geography of healthcare provision. This group studies the availability (or lack thereof) of healthcare resources to individuals and populations around the world. In both developed and developing nations there is often a very large discrepancy between the options available to people in different social classes, income brackets, and levels of education. Individuals working in the area of the geography of healthcare provision attempt to assess the levels of healthcare in the area (for instance, it may be very difficult for people to get medical attention because there is a mountain between their village and the nearest hospital). These researchers are on the frontline of making recommendations regarding policy to international organisations, local government bodies and others.
H The field of health geography is often overlooked, but it constitutes a huge area of need in the fields of geography and healthcare. If we can understand how geography affects our health no matter where in the world we are located, we can better treat disease, prevent illness, and keep people safe and well.Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs,A-H.Which paragraph contains the following information?Write the correct letterA-Gin boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.NBYou may use any letter more than once.A B C D E F G 14.an acceptance that not all diseases can be totally eliminated 15.examples of physical conditions caused by human behaviour 16.a reference to classifying diseases on the basis of how far they extend geographically 17.reasons why the level of access to healthcare can vary within a country 18.a description of health geography as a mixture of different academic fields 19.a description of the type of area where a particular illness is rare 我的答案： 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.
正确答案： 14.D 15.C 16.F 17.G 18.D 19.B
Questions 20-26
Complete the sentences below.ChooseONE WORD ONLYfrom the passage for each answer.Write your answers in boxes 20-26 on your answer sheet.20 Certain diseases have disappeared, thanks to better and healthcare.
21 Because there is more contact between people, are losing their usefulness
22 Disease-causing are most likely to be found in hot, damp regions.
23 One cause of pollution is that burn a particular fuel.
24 The growth of cities often has an impact on nearby .
25 is one disease that is growing after having been eradicated.
26 A physical barrier such as a can prevent people from reaching a hospital.
我的答案： 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.
正确答案： 20.vaccinations 21.antibiotics 22.mosquito(e)s 23.factories 24.forests 25.Polio 26.mountain
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Part 3
Read the text below and answer questions 27-40.
UK companies need more effective boards of directors
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A After a number of serious failures of governance (that is, how they are managed at the highest level), companies in Britain, as well as elsewhere, should consider radical changes to their directors' roles. It is clear that the role of a board director today is not an easy one. Following the 2008 financial meltdown, which resulted in a deeper and more prolonged period of economic downturn than anyone expected, the search for explanations in the many post-mortems of the crisis has meant blame has been spread far and wide. Governments regulators,central banks and auditors have all been in the frame. The role of bank directors and management and their widely publicised failures have been extensively picked over and examined in reports. Inquiries and commentaries.
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B The knock-on effect of this scrutiny has been to make the governance of companies in general an issue of intense public debate and has significantly increased the pressures on, and the responsibilities of, directors. At the simplest and most practical level, the time involved in fulfilling the demands of a board directorship has increased significantly, calling into question the effectiveness of the classic model of corporate governance by part-time.independent non-executive directors. Where once a board schedule may have consisted of between eight and ten meetings a year, in many companies the number of events requiring board input and decisions has dramatically risen. Furthermore,the amount of reading and preparation required for each meeting is increasing.Agendas can become overloaded and this can mean the time for constructive debate must necessarily be restricted in favour of getting through the business.
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C Often, board business is devolved to committees in order to cope with the workload,which may be more efficient but can mean that the board as a whole is less involved in fully addressing some of the most important issues. It is not uncommon for the audit committee meeting to last longer than the main board meeting itself. Process may take the place of discussion and be at the expense of real collaboration, so that boxes are ticked rather than issues tackled.
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D A radical solution, which may work for some very large companies whose businesses are extensive and complex, is the professional board. whose members would work up to three or four days a week , supported by their own dedicated staff and advisers. There are obvious risks to this and it would be important to establish clear guidelines for such a board to ensure that it did not step on the toes of management by becoming too engaged in the day-to-day running of the company. Problems of recruitment,remuneration and independence could also arise and this structure would not be appropriate for all companies. However, more professional and better-informed boards would have been particularly appropriate for banks Where the executives had access to information that part-time non-executive directors lacked, leaving the latter unable to comprehend or anticipate the 2008 crash.
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E One of the main criticisms of boards and their directors is that they do not focus sufficiently on longer-term matters of strategy, sustainability and governance, but instead concentrate too much on short-term financial metrics. Regulatory requirements and the structure of the market encourage this behaviour. The tyranny of quarterly reporting can distort board decision-making, as directors have to 'make the numbers' every four months to meet the insatiable appetite of the market for More data. This serves to encourage the trading methodology of a certain kind of investor who moves in and out of a stock without engaging in constructive dialogue with the company about strategy or performance,and is simply seeking a short-term financial gain. This effect has been made worse by the changing profile of investors due to the globalisation of capital and the increasing use of automated trading systems. Corporate culture adapts and management teams are largely incentivised to meet financial goals.
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F Compensation for chief executives has become a combat zone where pitched battles between investors,management and board members are fought, often behind closed doors but increasingly frequently in the full glare of press attention. Many would argue that this is in the interest of transparency and good governance as shareholders use their muscle in the area of pay to pressure boards to remove underperforming chief executives. Their powers to vote down executive Remuneration policies increased when binding votes came into force. The chair of the remuneration committee can be an exposed and lonely role, as Alison Carnwath, chair of Barclays Bank`s remuneration committee, found when she had to resign, having been roundly criticised for trying to defend the enormous bonus to be paid to the chief executive; the irony being that she was widely understood to have spoken out against it in the privacy of the committee.
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G The financial crisis stimulated a debate about the role and purpose of the company and a heightened awareness of corporate ethics. Trust in the corporation has been eroded and academics such as Michael Sandel, in his thoughtful and bestselling book What Money Can`t Buy, are questioning the morality of capitalism and the market economy. Boards of companies in all sectors will need to widen their perspective to encompass these issues and this may involve a realignment of corporate goals. We live in challenging times.Questions 27-33
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs,A-G.Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.Write the correct numberi-viiiin boxes 27-33 on your answer sheet.-
I. Disputes over financial arrangements regarding senior managers
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II. The impact on companies of being subjected to close examination
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III. The possible need for fundamental change in every area of business
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IV. Many external bodies being held responsible for problems
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V. The falling number of board members with broad enough experience
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VI. A risk that not all directors take part in solving major problems
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VII. Boards not looking far enough ahead
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VIII. A proposal to change the way the board operates
我的答案： 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
正确答案： 27.IV 28.II 29.VI 30.VIII 31.VII 32.I 33.III
Questions 34-37
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?In boxes 34-37 on your answer sheet, writeYESif the statement agrees with the claims of the writer.NOif the statement contradicts the claims of the writer.NOT GIVENif it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.34 Close scrutiny of the behaviour of boards has increased since the economic downturn.
35 Banks have been mismanaged to a greater extent than other businesses.
36 Board meetings normally continue for as long as necessary to debate matters in full.
37 Using a committee structure would ensure that board members are fully informed about significant issues.
我的答案：
正确答案： 34.YES 35.NOT GIVEN 36.NO 37.NO
Questions 38-40
Complete the sentence below.ChooseONE WORD ONLYfrom the passage for each answer.Write your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.38 Before 2008, non-executive directors were at a disadvantage because of their lack of.
39 Boards tend to place too much emphasis on considerations that are only of short-term relevance.
40 On certain matters, such as pay, the board may have to accept the views of .
我的答案： 38. 39. 40.
正确答案： 38.information 39.financial 40.shareholders|investors
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Part 4
Read the text below and answer questions 27-40.
The Benefits of Being Bilingual
A According to the latest figures, the majority of the world`s population is now bilingual or multilingual, having grown up speaking two or more languages. In the past, such children were considered to be at a disadvantage compared with their monolingual peers. Over the past few decades, however, technological advances have allowed researchers to look more deeply at how bilingualism several clear benefits of being bilingual.
B Research shows that when a bilingual person uses one language, the other is active at the same time. When we hear a word, we don`t hear the entire word all at once: the sounds arrive in sequential order. Long before the word is finished, the brain's language system begins to guess what that word might be. If you hear `can', you will likely activate words like 'candy` and 'candle` as well, at least during the earlier stages of word recognition. For bilingual people, this activation is not limited to a single language; auditory input activates corresponding words regardless of the language to which they belong. Some of the most compelling evidence for this phenomenon, called 'language co-activation`, comes from studying eye movements. A Russian-English bilingual asked to 'pick up a marker` from a set of objects would look more at a stamp than someone who doesn't know Russian, because the Russian word for 'stamp`, marka, sounds like the English word he or she heard, 'marker`. In cases like this, language co-activation occurs because what the listener hears could map onto words in either language.
C Having to deal with this persistent linguistic competition can result in difficulties, however. For instance, knowing more than one language can cause speakers to name pictures more slowly, and can increase 'tip-of-the-tongue states`, when you can almost, but not quite, bring a word to mind. As a result, the constant juggling of two languages creates a need to control how much a person accesses a language at any given time. For this reason, bilingual people often perform better on tasks that require conflict management. In the classic Stroop Task, people see a word and are asked to name the colour of the word`s font. When the colour and the word match (i.e., the word `red` printed in red), people correctly name the colour more quickly than when the colour and the word don`t match (i.e ., the word `red' printed in blue). This occurs because the word itself (`red`) and its font colour (blue) conflict. Bilingual people often excel at tasks such as this, which tap into the ability to ignore competing perceptual information and focus on the relevant aspects of the input. Bilinguals are also better at switching between two tasks; for example, when bilinguals have to switch from categorizing objects by colour (red or green) to categorizing them by shape (circle or triangle},they do so more quickly than monolingual people,reflecting better cognitive control when having to make rapid changes of strategy.
D It also seems that the neurological roots of the bilingual advantage extend to brain areas more traditionally associated with sensory processing. When monolingual and bilingual adolescents listen to simple speech sounds without any intervening background noise, they show highly similar brain stem responses. When researchers play the same sound to both groups in the presence of background noise, however, the bilingual listeners` neural response is considerably larger, reflecting better encoding of the sound`s fundamental frequency, a feature of sound closely related to pitch perception.
E Such improvements in cognitive and sensory processing may help a bilingual person to process information in the environment, and help explain why bilingual adults acquire a third language better than monolingual adults master a second language. This advantage may be rooted in the skill of focussing on information about the new language while reducing interference from the languages they already know.
F Research also indicates that bilingual experience may help to keep the cognitive mechanisms sharp by recruiting alternate brain networks to compensate for those that become damaged during aging. Older bilinguals enjoy improved memory relative to monolingual people, which can lead to real-world health benefits. In a study of over 200 patients with Alzheimer`s disease, a degenerative brain disease, bilingual patients reported showing initial symptoms of the disease an average of five years later than monolingual patients. In a follow-up study,researchers compared the brains of bilingual and monolingual patients matched on the severity of Alzheimer`s symptoms. Surprisingly, the bilinguals` brains had more physical signs of disease than their monolingual counterparts, even though their outward behaviour and abilities were the same. If the brain is an engine, bilingualism may help it to go farther on the same amount of fuel.
G Furthermore, the benefits associated with bilingual experience seem to start very early.In one study, researchers taught seven-month-old babies growing up in monolingual or bilingual homes that when they heard a tinkling sound, a puppet appeared on one side of a screen. Halfway through the study, the puppet began appearing on the opposite side of the screen. In order to get a reward, the infants had to adjust the rule they`d learned; only the bilingual babies were able to successfully learn the new rule. This suggests that for very young children, as well as for older people, navigating a multilingual environment imparts advantages that transfer far beyond language.Questions 27-31
Complete the table below.ChooseNO MORE THAN TWO WORDSfrom the passage for each answer.Write your answers in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
27
28
29
30
31
我的答案： 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.
正确答案： 27.eye movements 28.language co-activation 29.Stroop Task 30.conflict management 31.cognitive control
Questions 32-36
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?In boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet, writeYESif the statement agrees with the claims of the writer.NOif the statement contradicts the claims of the writer.NOT GIVENif it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.32 Attitudes towards bilingualism have changed in recent years.
33 Bilingual people are better than monolingual people at guessing correctly what words are before they are finished.
34 Bilingual people consistently name images faster than monolingual people.
35 Bilingual people's brains process single sounds more efficiently than monolingual people in all situations.
36 Fewer bilingual people than monolingual people suffer from brain disease in old age.
我的答案：
正确答案： 32.YES 33.NOT GIVEN 34.NO 35.NO 36.NOT GIVEN
Questions 37-40
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs,A-G.Which paragraph contains the following information?Write the correct letterA-Gin boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.A B C D E F G 37.an example of how bilingual and monolingual people's brains respond differently to a certain type of non-verbal auditory input 38.a demonstration of how a bilingual upbringing has benefits even before we learn to speak 39.a description of the process by which people identify words that they hear 40.reference to some negative consequences of being bilingual 我的答案： 37. 38. 39. 40.
正确答案： 37.D 38.G 39.B 40.C