About 59% of engineering companies in the IET's 2014 survey feared skill shortages could threaten（威胁） business.Engineers should embrace（接受） the arts, Sir John O'Reilly, a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, argued in a lecture.
"There is nothing as creative as engineering," Sir John told the reporter. He says science, technology, engineering and mathematics - often known as "Stem" subjects, are vital for a modern knowledge economy. But there is a massive shortfall in the number of recruits（招聘） - with a recent study by the Royal Academy of Engineering saying the UK needs to increase by as much as 50% the number of Stem graduates it produces.
Delivering this year's Mountbatten Lecture at the Royal Institution, Sir John argued that engineers should recognise the role of the arts in their work - among other benefits; this could attract more people into the profession. The lecture, Full Steam Ahead for Growth, advocated a wider adoption -- Steam, or science, technology, engineering, arts and maths. Engineers should embrace the arts as being key to creativity and an important component of innovation（创新）, crucial to creating new products and boosting future competitiveness, he argued. "Engineering and technology is an increasingly diverse and creative field," said Sir John.
Some university engineering departments already cooperated with art schools to develop understanding, he told the reporter. In particular he mentioned Cranfield University's Centre for Creative Competitive Design and Imperial College's work with the Royal College of Art. The two sets of people could work well together and more emphasis on the creative side of engineering could improve the success of products, he said.
"Aesthetics(美学) is part of it," he told the reporter, adding that Apple's iPod was not the first digital media player, nor the only one that worked - but it came to dominate the market "because it was nice to have".
Sir John said he was not suggesting universities started requiring A-level art from engineering applicants - the key subjects for admission would continue to be maths and the sciences. But an emphasis on creative skills would help "broaden the pool and attract more people in".According to a recent study by the Royal Academy _______ .
| A．the UK needs more graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics |
| B．engineering graduates are not as creative as expected |
| C．there are not enough arts graduates produced in the UK. |
| D．skill shortages could threaten business |
According to the lecture Full Steam Ahead for Growth, _______ .
| A．engineers should cooperate with arts majors |
| B．Accepting the arts could attract more people into engineering |
| C．engineers should realize arts play the most important part in their work |
| D．engineering and technology is as diverse and creative as before |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．More university students should study arts instead of engineering. |
| B．Engineering and technology is increasingly different and unrelated fields. |
| C．The IET's skills survey raised concerns about the number of recruits to engineering. |
| D．Students from some university engineering departments have already transferred to art schools |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Lack of creativity makes it difficult for the engineering major to find a satisfactory job. |
| B．The key subjects for engineering majors remain to be maths and the sciences rather than arts. |
| C．University engineering departments should cooperate with art schools to improve the success of products. |
| D．Engineering needs to emphasize its creative side to encourage more young people to choose it as a career. |
Chinese students get annual stress test
More than nine million people sit the exams.known as the gaokao and it seems that the wholecountry keeps a respectful distance-even the carhorns are banned near the exam halls.
About 280, 000 police officers are put on securitytraffic detail during the exams. There are 106roadblocks around the exam halls in Beijing alone.
People need a bit of help around exam time andthere are large crowds around the Buddhist temples.At Yaoshan in Henan Province, authorities areallowing candidates to "hug the feet" of their 200-metre tall Buddha there for free during theexaminations to bring good luck.
The candidates' chances of getting into college are better than ever — the 9.15 million students are competing for 6.85 million places, and the numbers are falling: they are down l.4 million since 2008.
The education ministry said this was because the graduation-age population has fallen and becausemore students want to study abroad. There is also a feeling that the safe job in the public sector-the"iron rice bow"— which many students are hoping to achieve after graduation,is not the draw it used to be as the private sector becomes more alluring.
Every year at this time, teachers are on thelookout for increasingly inventive cheats. Earlier this week, police in Jiangxi Province discovered a group of people making exam-cheatingequipments, and arrested 63 people.
One 83-year-old man took the exams for the12th time this year, saying everyone needs theirdream. "He needs a better dream," one personquipped on the net. "Don't take a place away from a young person." From the passage we can infer that ____________.
| A．the car whistles are completely cancelledduring the college entrance exam |
| B．the college entrance exam is considered awesome by all the country |
| C．about 280, 000 police officers are put on security traffic detail in Beijing during gaokao |
| D．"hugging the feet"of the Buddha must bring good luck to the candidates |
The number of the students sitting the college entrance exam in 2008 is ________.
| A．more than 10. 5 million |
| B．less than l. 4 million |
| C．9.15 million |
| D．6. 85 million |
Which of the following statements is not the reason for the falling candidate number?
| A．The graduation-age population has fallen. |
| B．More students want to study abroad. |
| C．The "iron rice bowl" is not the draw. |
| D．The cost of attending the college is high. |
The underlined word in the last paragraphprobably means in Chinese.
| A．嘲讽 |
| B．关心 |
| C．担忧 |
| D．装备 |
For those who are tired of doing the laundry, Samsung has found an answer: a washing machine that can tell you when your laundry is done via a smartphone app (application).
Strange though it may seem-"my wife already does that" was a common response among attendeesviewing the device when it was introduced at theConsumer Electronics Show (CES ) this weekSamsung is just one of many appliance makers racingto install(安装) a large number of Internet-connectedfeatures in machines in an effort to make them "smart" .
Last year, it was a refrigerator that tweeted. Thisyear,it's Wi-Fi-enabled laundry machines and fridgesthat can tell you when your groceries are going bad.
The washers and dryers, available starting in thespring, connect to any smartphone through adownloadable application. The phone can then beused as a remote control, so the machines can beturned on and off white their owner is at work or onthe bus.
Samsung says it's not just something new — theapp connection actually has some practical uses.
"If you started to dry clothes in the morning andforgot to take them out, you can go to your phoneand restart your dryer for the time when you comehome, so your clothes are refreshed and ready to go,"said spokesperson Amy Schmidt.
The company also says that with electricity rates(电价) varying depending on the time of day, morecontrol over when the machines are used can helpsave money.
Perhaps, but what they will probably reallyaccomplish is what all good technologies do-enablelaziness. Rather than getting up to check on whetherthe laundry is done, users will instead monitor it ontheir phones while watching TV. What can be inferred from the common responseof the attendees at the CES?
| A．The machine will be a big success. |
| B．Their wives like doing the laundry. |
| C．The machine is unrelated to their life. |
| D．This kind of technology is familiar to them. |
What can we learn about the new laundrymachines?
| A．They can tell you when your clothes need washing. |
| B．They can be controlled with a smartphone. |
| C．They are difficult to operate. |
| D．They are sold at a low price. |
We can conclude from Samsung's statementsthat ______.
| A．the app connection makes life easier |
| B．it is better to dry clothes in the morning |
| C．smartphones can shorten the drying time |
| D．we should refresh clothes back at home |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．The laundry should be frequently checked. |
| B．Lazy people like using such machines. |
| C．Good technologies also cause problems. |
| D．Televisions may help do the laundry. |
Three Boys and a Dad
Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home tovisit her mother. Expecting a whole day to relax, hewas thinking whether to read the newspaper or watchhis favorite TV talk show on his first day off inmonths. "This will be like a walk in the park," he'dtold his wife. "I'll look after the kids, and you can go to visit your mom."
Things started well, but just after eight o'clock,his three little "good kids"-Mike, Randy, and Alex — came down the stairs in their night clothes andshouted "breakfast, Daddy." When food had notappeared within thirty seconds, Randy began using hisspoon on Alex's head as if it were a drum. Alexstarted to shout loudly in time to the beat (节拍).Mike chanted "Where's my toast, where's my toast"in the background. Brad realised his newspaper wouldhave to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast. Mike woreRandy's underwear on his head. Randy locked himselfin the bathroom,while Alex shouted again because hewas going to wet his pants. Nobody could find cleansocks, although they were before their very eyes.Someone named "Not Me" had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes. Bradknew the talk show had already started.
By ten o'clock, things were out of control. Alexwas wondering why the fish in the jar refused hisbread and butter. Mike was trying to show off histalent by decorating the kitchen wall with his colourpencils. Randy, thankfully, appeared to be readingquietly in the family room, but closer examinationshowed that he was eating apple jam straight fromthe bottle with his hands. Brad realised that the talkshow was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly 11:17, Brad called the daycare centre(日托所). "I suddenly have to go into work and mywife's away. Can I bring the boys over in a fewminutes?" The answer was obviously "yes" becauseBrad was smiling.When his wife left home, Brad expected to _________.
| A．go out for a walk in the park |
| B．watch his favorite TV talk show with his children |
| C．enjoy his first day off work |
| D．read the newspaper to his children |
Which of the following did Randy do?
| A．Drawing on the wall. |
| B．Eating apple jam. |
| C．Feeding the fish. |
| D．Reading in a room. |
Why did Brad ask the daycare centre for help?
| A．Because he wanted to clean up his house. |
| B．Because he suddenly had to go to his office. |
| C．Because he found it hard to manage his boys. |
| D．Because he had to take his wife back home. |
This text is developed ________
| A．by space |
| B．by comparison |
| C．by process |
| D．by time |
The massive polar bear moved slowly along therocky shoreline, just a yard or so from the stormywaters of the Arctic Ocean. Occasionally it raised itshead to sniff the Arctic air, hoping perhaps to find aneasy meal of an exhausted seal. It was late July, and inthis uninhabited area of the Norwegian archipelago,much of the drift ice had melted. This made hunting for seals — a polar bear's favorite meal — nearlyimpossible.
With a westerly wind at its back, the male bearcontinued to patrol the shore. Then, perhaps catchingthe smell of something unusual, it stopped dead in itstracks. Following its nose, it can smell a decayingwhale from 20 miles away, and the bear suddenlyturned downwind and inland. It was closing in on itsprey.
It was to be the adventure of a lifetime. For almost two years, longtime friends Sebastian PlurNilssen and LudvigFjeld, both 22, had been trainingfor this two-month-long expedition. Hoping to followin the footsteps of other Norwegian explorers such asRoald Amundsen and Thor Heyerdahl, the two wereattempting to become the first to paddle around theentire Svalbard islands, a trip of more than l,100miles through one of the world's most remoteregions.
To keep fit, they had worn dry suits and travelled through the ice-filled rivers near their hometowns outside Oslo, pulled heavy kayaks overglaciers, and jumped into the freezing waters to toughen themselves.
They spent much time practicing shooting. Asmany Arctic experts had told them,if they needed todefend themselves from a polar bear, they'd have little time to think. Each carried a gun in awaterproof bag lashed to their kayaks. Holdingsteady, controlling their breathing, aiming, and thenshooting: It all had to be second nature. What made the polar bear's hunting for seals difficult?
| A．The rocky shoreline. |
| B．The melting of the ice. |
| C．The uninhabited area. |
| D．The extreme cold. |
The reason why the bear stopped its patrol suddenly was that _____
| A．the westerly wind blew heavily at its back |
| B．it caught the smell of the decaying whale |
| C．it felt so worn-out and hungry |
| D．it was eager to get close to its prey |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Sebastian PlurNilssen and LudvigFjeld are both nearly thirty years old. |
| B．Roald Amundsen and Thor Heyerdahl were trying to paddle around the Svalbard islands. |
| C．The shooting skill is important for the explorers to defend themselves from the bear. |
| D．Sebastian PlurNilssen and LudvigFjeld have succeeded in paddling around the Svalbard islands. |
The underlined word in the passage probably means"_______".
| A．encourage |
| B．strengthen |
| C．enjoy |
| D．entertain |
As Sam slowly woke, he got a funny feeling in his stomach. He knew he would have to do something that he had been afraid to do for a long time.
The school bus came on time, and he sat with his friend, Billy. They chatted about baseball. It was a great way to get his mind off what he had to do later. As they got close to the school, he could feel his heart beating. His hands were starting to sweat. He hated this！
He entered Mrs Owens' class. She was smiling and saying hello to all her students as she did every morning.
"Hi, Sam!" she said as he walked in.
"Hi," he said and quickly sat in his seat. Then the class began to take their spelling test. He looked at the clock. The time was near. He hoped he was not first！Mrs Owens said it was time to begin their special day.
"Sam, you'll be first." Mrs Owens said to the class, "Sam has worked very hard on his report on Hawaii, and I know it is very interesting."
Sam nervously greeted his class. Then, he thought about the fun things he had read about surfing, volcanoes, and pineapples in Hawaii, and he started to talk. He talked in front of the whole class, and it was fun. The class clapped as he finished and Mrs Owens was smiling. It wasn't terrible at all and he knew he would do better the next time. How did Sam feel after he woke?
| A．Excited. |
| B．Nervous. |
| C．Happy. |
| D．Hungry. |
What did Sam have to do that day?
| A．To have a baseball match. |
| B．To take a reading test. |
| C．To go to a new class. |
| D．To do something special. |
What does the underlined word "sweat" probably mean?
| A．触摸 |
| B．鼓掌 |
| C．出汗 |
| D．指点 |
Which could be inferred (推断) from this passage?
| A．Sam hated chatting about baseball. |
| B．Sam learned about Hawaii by travelling. |
| C．Mrs Owens is unfriendly to her students. |
| D．The class enjoyed Sam's talk very much. |
Which is the best title for this passage?
| A．A Special Day |
| B．An Interesting Lesson |
| C．A Nice Teacher |
| D．A Professional Report |